GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER 
APPOMATTOX 



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General Lee's Last Picture 
Made by Mr. M. Miley, Lexington, Va., in 1869 and published by General 
Lee's son, Captain Robert E. Lee in his Recollections and Letters oj General Lee. 



GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE 
AFTER APPOMATTOX 



EDITED BY 

FRANKLIN L. RILEY 

PROFESSOR OF HISTORY, WASHINGTON AND LEE UNIVERSITY 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 
1922 

All figkls reserved 



.1 



Copyright, 1922, 
By the MACMILLAN COMPANY 



Set up and printed. Published January, 1922. 



^n!.A55419l 



Printed in the United States of America 



JAN I i iB22 



D / 



THIS MEMORIAL VOLUME, 

ISSUED FIFTY YEARS AFTER THE TERMINATION 

OF THE INCOMPARABLE SERVICES OF 

GENERAL ROBERT EDWARD LEE 

AS PRESIDENT OF WASHINGTON COLLEGE, 

IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED TO THE 

"LEE ALUMNI" 

BY 
THEIR ALMA MATER 



PUBLICATION COMMITTEE 
OF BOARD OF TRUSTEES: 

Mr. William A. Anderson, 

Dr. E. C. Gordon, 

Mr. Harrington Waddell. 



PREFACE 

SHORTLY after the death of General Robert E. 
Lee the faculty of Washington and Lee Uni- 
versity began the preparation of a "Lee Me- 
morial Volume," but circumstances "delayed and 
finally prevented the publication " of this work. The 
manuscripts that had been prepared by members 
of the faculty and other papers that had been collected 
for this volume were turned over to Dr. J. William 
Jones and incorporated in his Personal Reminiscences 
of Gen. R. E. Lee, which was published in 1874. Among 
the "faculty contributions" to that volume were the 
valuable sketches by Dr. J. L. Kirkpatrick, Profes- 
sor of Moral Science, by Dr. Edward S. Joynes, Profes- 
sor of English, and by Col. William Preston Johnston, 
Professor of History. 

In June, 1917, the trustees of the university decided 
to collect all facts, then available, on General Lee's 
connection with the institution. The executive com- 
mittee of the board later requested the professor of 
history of the university to undertake this work. In 
carrying out his commission he sent appeals to all 
living "Lee Alumni," as far as their addresses could be 
obtained, asking for every item of information, however 
small, that they could furnish, relative to their college 
days. A suggested list of topics was also sent to aid the 



X PREFACE 

alumni in determining the nature and scope of the infor- 
mation desired. 

The responses to these appeals were hearty and gen- 
erous, though it was impossible to overcome the handi- 
cap of a fifty years' delay in the prosecution of the work. 
It is safe to say that the contributions obtained in this 
way will perhaps be the last to be had from this source. 
They constitute a large part of the contents of this 
volume. Unfortunately, many alumni of this unique 
period had passed away before a systematic effort was 
made to gather and preserve their reminiscences for 
the benefit of future generations. At least two of the 
contributors to this volume, Mr. F. A. Berlin and Rev. 
Robert H. Fleming, have died since the inauguration 
of this work. In the course of a few more years the 
last of this honored group, who heard the voice and 
observed the daily movements of our great President, 
will cease to bear living testimony to his memory, and 
the record will be closed. 

The contents of this volume have also been enriched 
by the reproduction of valuable contributions which 
have appeared from time to time in ephemeral publica- 
tions. Documents of this class were written either 
by members of General Lee's faculty or by others who 
came in personal contact with him after the war. Two 
brief extracts have been taken from standard biogra- 
phies of General Lee, because the volumes from which 
they were taken are now out of print. 

Although the incidents and impressions here given 
will probably not alter the judgment of the reading 



PREFACE xi 

public on the character of General Lee, they will af- 
ford something more than corroborative testimony on 
the subject. They will explain, in part at least, the 
methods by which this great college executive in the 
brief period of five years achieved results that would 
have been highly creditable to the full life-effort of a 
successful educator. 

Franklin L. Riley. 
Washington and Lee University, 
October 12, 1920. 



22 



CONTENTS 



Preface ^**]= 

List of Illustrations 

How General Lee Became a College President, ^y Prof. A. L. 

Nelson 

Why General Lee Accepted the Presidency of Washington ' College". 

By Capt. R. E. Lee 

Inauguration of General Lee as President' of Washington ' College'. 

By Correspondent of the New York Herald 12 

General Lee as a College President. By Prof. Edward S. Joynes i6 

General Lee at Lexington. By Prof. C. A. Graves 

Reminiscences of General Lee as President of Washington College. 

^y Prof M. W. Humphreys 

Recollections of General Lee. By Mr. F. A. Berlin '. . . . . . . ' . . . . . ' ' " .' 40 

Tribute of an Appreciative Student. By Mr. W. W. Estill 49 

Reflections of a Lee Alumnus. By Judge Robert Ewing. 54 

Remm.scences of General Lee and Washington College. By Richard 

fr. Rogers 

A College Boy's Observation of General Lee. "By Mr.John'B.'collyar 6? 

An Incident in the Life of General R. E. Lee. By Mr. J. W. Ewing 69 

Recollections of General Robert E. Lee's Administration As President 
of Washington College. By Dr. E. C. Gordon 7; 

Brief Statements by "LEE ALUMNI:" 
Rev. W. Strother Jones. ... ^ 

Mr. Mike G. Harman J 

Rev. Frank Bell Webb 108 

Mr. John Blackmar. . . 

Mr. C. W. Hedger ^°^ 

Dr. T. H. Somerville \^ ''.''.'. '^^.^.^.^. Ji" 

Rt. Rev. James R. Winchester 

Mr. Hubbard G. Carlton 116 

Mr. Graham Robinson 

Rev. Robert H. Fleming. . . "J 

Rev. William Boyle 

Mr. A. H. Hamilton "' 

119 



XIV CONTENTS 

Brief Statements by " LEE ALUMNI " — Continued. page 

Mr. Jo Lane Stern 120 

Mr. Willa Viley 120 

Mr. Albert L. Rees 121 

Supt. J. Parry McCluer 122 

Mr. James H. McCown 122 

Mr. John F. Ponder 123 

Mr. W. H. Tayloe 125 

Judge D. Gardiner Tyler 128 

Mr. Joseph John Allen 131 

Mr. David J. Wilson 132 

Dr. Chalmers Deadrick 135 

Rev. C. C. Brown 138 

President Lee and the Student. By Dr. S. Z. Ammen 142 

Reminiscences of General Lee. By Mr. Edward V. Valentine 146 

What General Lee Read After the War. By Franklin L. Riley 157 

The Christian Character of Robert E. Lee. By Dr. J. William Jones 182 

Tribute to General Lee as a Man. By Mr. JV. A. Anderson 196 

Tribute to General Lee as an Educator. By President Henry Lows 

Smith 203 

Death and Funeral of General Lee. By Col. William Preston Johnston 206 

General Lee's Last Office. By Dr. J. William Jones 223 

The Mausoleum and Recumbent Statue. By Col. William Allan 226 

Appendix: General Lee's Letter to Lord Acton 237 

Index 243 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

General Lee's Last Picture (1869) Frontispiece 

Facing page 

Reproduction of General Lee's Letter of Acceptance 8 

General Lee's Campus Homes 

General Lee's OflSce in the Chapel 24 

Rare Pictures of General Lee 78 

General Lee on Traveller 

Last Homes of General Lee and Traveller 134 

General Lee during the War 146 

Exterior View of Lee Memorial Chapel 

Interior View of Lee Memorial Chapel 194 

Recumbent Statue of General Lee 

Mausoleum beneath the Recumbent Statue 224 



y 



GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER 
APPOMATTOX 



HOW LEE BECAME A COLLEGE 
PRESIDENT 

By Prof. Alexander L. Nelson 

This sketch, written by an honored and appreciative member of General 
Lee's faculty, is taken from the "Lee Memorial Number" of the Wake 
Forest Student, a magazine published in January, 1907, by Wake Forest 
College. It is here reproduced because it is deemed worthy of permanent 
preservation. — Editor. 

WHEN the war closed Washington College was 
a wreck, but the board of trustees, animated 
by indomitable Scotch-Irish pluck, deter- 
mined to resuscitate it. It was announced that the 
board would meet on the 4th day of August, 1865. The 
members of the faculty were present by invitation, as 
most interested spectators. 

Several highly respectable gentleman and scholars 
were placed in nomination for president and their mer- 
its discussed. 

At length the board seemed ready to take the vote. 

Just then Col. Bolivar Christian arose and said, in a 
somewhat hesitating manner, that he deemed it his 
duty to make a statement, before the vote was taken, 
which might have some influence on the election. He 
then said that a lady friend of his, who was also a 
friend of Miss Mary Lee, daughter of General Robert 
E. Lee, recently told him that Miss Mary Lee had 
remarked to her that while the Southern people were 



2 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

willing and ready to give her father everything that he 
might need, no offer had ever been made him by which 
he could earn a living for himself and family. 

A member asked Colonel Christian if he nominated 
General Lee. No, he replied, he would not do that, but 
he merely wanted the board to know what Miss Mary 
Lee had said. 

Then various members of the board said what a great 
thing it would be for the college if the services of Gen- 
eral Lee could be secured, and wondered if there was 
any chance of doing so. 

At length, after repeated urging. Colonel Christian 
did make the nomination. All other names were 
immediately withdrawn and the roll was called, and 
General Lee was unanimously elected. 

Then there was a pause, and silence prevailed for 
some moments. The board seemed oppressed with the 
gravity of the situation, and seemed to feel that they 
had acted rashly. How could they announce to the 
world that they had elected to the presidency of a 
broken-down college not only the greatest man in the 
South, but in many respects the greatest man in the 
world? And yet it was only brave men who could seize 
an opportunity like this. "There is a tide in the affairs 
of men which, taken at its flood, leads on to fortune. " 

At length a member summoned courage to say that 
having taken that step, they must go forward, and he 
moved that a committee of five members, with the 
rector, be appointed to draft a letter to General Lee 
apprising him of his election and urging his acceptance. 



HOW LEE BECAME A COLLEGE PRESIDENT 3 

Another member suggested that it would not avail to 
send a letter through the mail, but that it must be con- 
veyed and presented by a personal representative, and 
that there was no one so well qualified for that mission 
as the rector. 

Judge Brockenbrough, the rector, was a large man of 
imposing appearance, of courtly manners, a good talker 
and an eloquent speaker. He had been federal judge 
of the western district of Virginia, and had for many 
years conducted a flourishing law school in Lexington. 

The judge arose at once and, thanking the member 
for his kind words, said that he could not go; and 
glancing down at his well-worn clothes, said he could 
not make an appearance in General Lee's presence 
dressed as he was, and that those were the best clothes 
he had, and that he had no money whatever to buy 
others. 

Mr. Hugh Barclay, a member of the board, who also 
was a large man, replied that one of his sons who lived 
in the North had sent him a suit of broadcloth which 
he thought would fit Judge Brockenbrough pretty well 
and that if he would wear this suit he would be welcome 
to it. The judge thanked him, but said there was still 
another difficulty. It would be quite a journey to 
Powhatan county, where General Lee was residing, and 
would necessitate some expense, and he had no money 
and the college had none. 

Colonel McLaughlin, another trustee, who was ever 
alive to the interests of the college, and who knew 
everything that occurred in town, said there was a lady 



4 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

living in Lexington who owned a farm in Buckingham 
county and who had recently secured the money for a 
crop of tobacco, and, that the college could borrow some 
of it. 

Judge Brockenbrough, thus equipped and supplied, 
went on his mission. When he returned he reported 
that General Lee was willing to take the matter under 
consideration. 

On the 24th of August General Lee wrote that he 
would accept the office of President of Washington 
College under certain conditions, one of which was that 
he could not undertake to give instruction to classes 
but could only undertake general supervision. The 
conditions imposed were readily accepted by the board 
and the announcement of General Lee's acceptance 
was made public. 

Money was borrowed and every effort made to place 
the college in working order. On the 1 8 th of September, 
1865, General Lee rode into town on "Traveller."* 

*In writing the name of his favorite war horse General Lee always fol- 
lowed the English spelling, using two I's instead of one. — Editor. 



WHY GENERAL LEE ACCEPTED THE PRES- 
IDENCY OF WASHINGTON COLLEGE 

By Captain Robert E. Lee 

The following extract is taken from Capt. R. E. Lee's Recollections and 
Letters of General Robert E. Lee, pages 179-184. Unfortunately, this valuable 
life of General Lee is out of print. — Editor. 

ABOUT this time my father received from the 
Board of Trustees of Washington College a 
^ notification of his election to the presidency of 
that institution, at a meeting of the board held in 
Lexington, Virginia, on August 4, 1865. The letter 
apprising him of the action was presented by Judge 
John W. Brockenbrough, rector of the college. This 
was a complete surprise to my father. He had already 
been offered the vice-chancellorship of the "University 
of the South," at Sewanee, Tennessee, but declined it 
on the ground that it was denominational, and to some 
suggestions that he should connect himself with the 
University of Virginia he objected because it was a 
state institution. * 

* The following extract from a letter written by Mr. Wm. A. Anderson, 
present rector of Washington and Lee University, to the board of trustees 
under date of June 17, 1901, gives additional light on this subject: 

"Informally, but none the less positively and effectively, the active inter- 
est of Rev. Dr. and Gen. William N. Pendleton, a lifelong personal friend 



6 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

Washington College had started as an academy in 
1749. It was the first classical school opened in the 
Valley of Virginia. After a struggle of many years, 
under a succession of principals and with several 
changes of site, it at length acquired such a reputation 
as to attract the attention of General Washington. 
He gave it a handsome endowment, and the institution 
changed its name from "Liberty Hall Academy" to 
Washington College. In the summer of 1865, the col- 
lege, through the calamities of civil war, had reached 
the lowest point of depression it had ever known. Its 
buildings, library, and apparatus had suffered from the 
sack and plunder of hostile soldiery. Its invested funds, 
owing to the general inpoverishment throughout the 
land, were for the time being rendered unproductive 
and their ultimate value was most uncertain. Four 
professors still remained on duty, and there were 
about forty students, mainly from the country around 
Lexington. It was not a state institution, nor con- 
fined to any one religious denomination, so two objec- 
tions which might have been made by my father were 
removed. But the college in later years had only a 
local reputation. It was very poor, indifferently 

of General Lee, a member of his military staff during the war, and a minister 
of the same religious denomination, was at the instance of the trustees, who 
were in Lexington at the time of General Lee's election, enlisted in the effort 
they were making to prevail on General Lee to accept the presidency. 

"At the request of Prof. James J. White, who acted as the authorized 
representative of the trustees. General Pendleton wrote to General Lee 
advising his acceptance of the position and assuring him, as he had been 
authorized to do by Prof. White, that the institution would in the future 
be absolutely undenominational." — Editor. 



WHY GENERAL LEE ACCEPTED PRESIDENCY 7 

equipped with buildings, and with no means in sight 
to improve its condition.* 

"There was a general expectation that he would 
decline the position as not sufficiently lucrative, if his 
purpose was to repair the ruins of his private fortune 
resulting from the war; as not lifting him conspicuously 
enough in the public gaze, if he was ambitious of office 
or further distinction; or as involving too great labour 
and anxiety, if he coveted repose after the terrible 
contest from which he had just emerged, "f 

He was very reluctant to accept this appointment, 
but for none of the above reasons, as the average man 
might have been. Why he was doubtful of undertaking 
the responsibilities of such a position his letter of accept- 
ance clearly shows. He considered the matter carefully 
and then wrote the following letter to the committee: 

"Powhatan County, August 24, 1865. 

"Gentlemen: I have delayed for some days replying to your 
letter of the 5th inst., informing me of my election by the board of 
trustees to the presidency of Washington College, from a desire to 

* The poverty of the institution at this time is shown by the following 
facts: 

In their report to the trustees, June 20, 1865, the faculty said that the 
buildings had suffered serious damage from General Hunter's raid and that 
conditions had grown worse since that time, "owing to the want of material 
and means for making repairs, and partly to the impossibility of closing 
them against the depredations of mischievous persons." June 24, 1865, 
the trustees authorized the faculty to borrow $500.00 for repairs. In 
February, 1866, the treasurer of the college was authorized to have shelves 
put in the laboratory for minerals " provided the carpenter would agree to 
wait for money until the opening of the next session." See MS. Faculty 
Records under dates given. — Editor. 

t Professor E. S. Joynes. 



8 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

give the subject due consideration. Fully impressed with the 
responsibilities of the office, I have feared that I should be unable 
to discharge its duties to the satisfaction of the trustees or to the 
benefit of the country. The proper education of youth requires not 
only great ability, but I fear more strength than I now possess, for I 
do not feel able to undergo the labour of conducting classes in 
regular courses of instruction. I could not, therefore, undertake 
more than the general administration and supervision of the insti- 
tution. There is another subject which has caused me serious 
reflection, and is, I think, worthy of the consideration of the board. 
Being excluded from the terms of amnesty in the proclamation of 
the President of the United States, of the 29th of May last, and an 
object of censure to a portion of the country, I have thought it 
probable that my occupation of the position of president might 
draw upon the college a feeling of hostility; and I should, therefore, 
cause injury to an institution which it would be my highest desire 
to advance. I think it the duty of every citizen, in the present 
condition of the country, to do all in his power to aid in the restora- 
tion of peace and harmony and in no way to oppose the policy of the 
State or general government directed to that object. It is particu- 
larly incumbent on those charged with the instruction of the young 
to set them an example of submission to authority, and I could not 
consent to be the cause of animadversion upon the college. Should 
you, however, take a different view, and think that my services in 
the position tendered to me by the board will be advantageous to 
the college and country, I will yield to your judgment and accept it; 
otherwise, I must most respectfully decline the office. Begging 
you to express to the trustees of the college my heartfelt gratitude 
for the honour conferred upon me, and requesting you to accept my 
cordial thanks for the kind manner in which you have communicated 
their decision, I am, gentlemen, with great respect, your most 
obedient servant, 

R. E. Lee." * 

To present a clearer view of some of the motives 
influencing my father in accepting this trust — for such 
he considered it — I give an extract from an address on 

* By comparing this document with the photographic reproduction of 
the original the reader will note that Captain Lee made some slight changes 
in capital letters, of which his father made liberal use, following the custom 
of his day. — Editor. 



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notice of election to the presidency of Washington College 



WHY GENERAL LEE ACCEPTED PRESIDENCY 9 

the occasion of his death, by Bishop Wilmer, of Louis- 
iana, delivered at the University of the South, at Se- 
wanee, Tennessee: 

"I was seated," says Bishop Wilmer, "at the close of the day, 
in my Virginia home, when I beheld, through the thickening shades 
of evening, a horseman entering the yard, whom I soon recognised 
as General Lee. The next morning he placed in my hands the 
correspondence with the authorities of Washington College at Lex- 
ington. He had been invited to become president of that institu- 
tion. I confess to a momentary feeling of chagrin at the proposed 
change (shall I say revulsion?) in his history. The institution 
was one of local interest, and comparatively unknown to our people. 
I named others more conspicuous which would welcome him with 
ardour as their presiding head. I soon discovered that his mind 
towered above these earthly distinctions; that, in his judgment, the 
cause gave dignity to the institution, and not the wealth of its 
endowment or the renown of its scholars; that this door and not 
another was opened to him by Providence, and he only wished to 
be assured of his competency to fulfil his trust and thus to make 
his few remaining years a comfort and blessing to his suflFering 
country. I had spoken to his human feelings; he had now revealed 
himself to me as one 'whose life was hid with Christ in God.' My 
speech was no longer restrained. I congratulated him that his heart 
was inclined to this great cause, and that he was spared to give to 
the world this august testimony to the importance of Christian 
education. How he listened to my feeble words; how he beckoned 
me to his side, as the fulness of heart found utterance; how his 
whole countenance glowed with animation as I spoke of the Holy 
Ghost as the great Teacher, whose presence was required to make 
education a blessing, which otherwise might be the curse of man- 
kind; how feelingly he responded, how eloquently, as I never heard 
him speak before, — can never be effaced from memory; and 
nothing more sacred mingles with my reminiscences of the dead." 

The board of trustees, on August 31, adopted and 
sent to General Lee resolutions saying that, in spite of 
his objections, "his connection with the institution 
would greatly promote its prosperity and advance the 



lO GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

general interest of education, and urged him to enter 
upon his duties as president at his earliest convenience. " 

My father had had nearly four years' experience in 
the charge of young men at West Point. The condi- 
tions at that place, to be sure, were very different from 
those at the one to which he was now going, but the 
work in the main was the same — to train, improve and 
elevate. I think he was influenced, in making up his 
mind to accept this position, by the great need of educa- 
tion in his State and in the South, and by the opportu- 
nity that he saw at Washington College for starting 
almost from the beginning, and for helping, by his 
experience and example, the youth of his country to 
become good and useful citizens. 

In the latter part of September, he mounted Travel- 
ler and started alone for Lexington. He was four days 
on the journey, stopping with some friend each night. 
He rode into Lexington on the afternoon of the fourth 
day, no one knowing of his coming until he quietly drew 
up and dismounted at the village inn. Professor White, 
who had just turned into the main street as the General 
halted in front of the hotel, said he knew in a moment 
that this stately rider on the iron-gray charger must be 
General Lee. He, therefore, at once went forward, as 
two or three old soldiers gathered around to help the 
General down, and insisted on taking him to the home 
of Colonel Reid, the professor's father-in-law, where he 
had already been invited to stay. My father, with his 
usual consideration for others, as it was late in the 
afternoon, had determined to remain at the hotel that 



WHY GENERAL LEE ACCEPTED PRESIDENCY II 

night and go to Mr. Reid's in the morning; but yielding 
to Captain White's (he always called him "Captain," 
his Confederate title) assurances that all was ready for 
him, he accompanied him to the home of his kind host. 



INAUGURATION OF GENERAL LEE, AS PRES- 
IDENT OF WASHINGTON COLLEGE 

By Correspondent of the New York Herald 

The following account of the simple exercises inducting General Robert E. 
Lee into the presidency of Washington College, October 2, 1865, was sent 
to the New York Herald by a staff correspondent and the story was repub- 
lished in the Lexington Gazette of October 11, 1865. — Editor. 

GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE was to-day in- 
stalled president of Washington College. 
There was no pomp of parade. The exercises 
of installation were the simplest possible — an exact and 
barren compliance with the required formula of taking 
the oath by the new President, and nothing more — was 
in accordance with the special request of General Lee. 
It was proposed to have the installation take place in 
the college chapel, to send invitations far and wide, to 
have a band of music to play enlivening airs, to have 
young girls, robed in white and bearing chaplets of 
flowers, to sing songs of welcome; to have congratula- 
tory speeches, to make it a grand holiday. That the 
proposed program was not carried out was a source of 
severe disappointment to many. But General Lee 
had expressed his wishes contrary to the choice and 
determination of the college trustees and the multitude, 
and his wishes were complied with. 



INAUGURATION OF GENERAL LEE 13 

The installation took place at 9 A. M. in a recitation 
room of the college. In this room were seated the 
faculty and students, the ministers of the town churches, 
a magistrate and the county clerk, the last two officials 
being necessary to the ceremonial. General Lee was 
inducted into the room by the board of trustees. At his 
entrance and introduction all in the room arose, bowed 
and then became seated. Prayer by Rev. Dr. White, 
pastor of the Presbyterian church, directly followed. 
To me it was a noticeable fact, and perhaps worthy of 
record, that he prayed for the President of the United 
States. Altogether it was a most fitting and impressive 
prayer. 

Brief Eulogy Upon General Lee 

The prayer ended. Judge Brockenbrough, chairman 
of the board of trustees, stated the object of their 
coming together, to install General Lee as President of 
Washington College. He felt the serious dignity of the 
occasion, but it was a seriousness and a dignity that 
should be mingled with heartfelt joy and gladness. 
Passing a brief eulogy upon General Lee, and congratu- 
lating the board and the college and its present and 
future students, on having obtained one so loved and 
great and worthy to preside over the college, he said he 
could say more had it not been voted against speech- 
making. During the delivery of these few words — and 
they came, despite the prohibitory voting, very near 
culminating to the dignity of a set as well as eloquent 
speech. General Lee remained standing, his arms 



14 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

quietly folded and calmly and steadfastly looking into 
the eyes of the speaker. Justice William White, at the 
instance of Judge Brockenbrough, now administered 
the oath of office to General Lee. For the benefit of 
those curious to know the nature of this new oath to 
which General Lee has just subscribed, and as it is 
brief, I give it entire. It is as follows: 

" I do swear that I will, to the best of my skill and 
judgment, faithfully and truly discharge the duties 
required of me by an act entitled, 'An act for incorpo- 
rating the rector and trustees of Liberty Hall Academy,' 
without favor, affection or partiality. So help me 
God." 

To this oath General Lee at once affixed his signature, 
with the accompanying usual juriat of the swearing 
magistrate appended. The document, in the form 
stated, was handed to the county clerk for safe and 
perpetual custodianship, and at the same time the keys 
of the college were given by the rector into the keeping 
of the new president. A congratulatory shaking of 
hands followed and wound up the day's brief but pleas- 
ing and memorable ceremonial. President Lee and the 
trustees, with the faculty, now passed into the room set 
apart for the former's use — a good-sized room, newly 
but very plainly and tastefully furnished. 

General Lee was dressed in a plain but elegant suit 
of gray. His appearance indicated the enjoyment of 
good health — better, I should say, than when he sur- 
rendered his army at Appomattox Court House, the 
first and only occasion before the present of my having 



E^AUGURATION OF GENERAL LEE IS 

seen him. His looks and bearing have been often and 
minutely described, and I will not dwell upon them here. 
Most pictures of him on exhibition come up to the 
average of fidelity of this class of likenesses. 



GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AS COLLEGE 
PRESIDENT 

By Professor Edward S. Joynes 

The following article was taken from the Southern Historical Society 
Papers, XXVIII, 243-246, and first appeared in the Richmond, Va., Dis- 
patch, January 27, 1901. It was not intended by the writer, Professor 
Edward S. Joynes, as a formal contribution, but was part of a letter to a 
friend. His more formal and elaborate contribution on this subject will 
be found in Joynes' Personal Reminiscences of General Robert E. Lee, 118- 
129. Professor Joynes held the chair of Modern Languages at Washington 
College while General Lee was president and later held the same position 
at the University of South Carolina. He died June 18, 1917. — Editor. 

MY recollections shall be chiefly of General Lee 
as college president. It is as such that he is 
chiefly present to my memory — always for 
admiration, sometimes for contrast with later expe- 
riences. I will not enlarge upon the quiet dignity and 
patience with which he always presided over our often 
wordy and tedious meetings, his perfect impartiality, 
and unwearied courtesy, his manifest efl^ort to sink his 
own personality, as if to minimize the influence which 
he knew attached to his own views, and to leave to the 
faculty as a body, and to each member of it, the fullest 
sense of authority and independence. 

Indeed, nowhere else in all my wide experience have 
I found so much of personal dignity and influence 
attached to the professorship as at Lexington; and this 
was largely due to the courtesy and deference with 



GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AS COLLEGE PRESIDENT 17 

which General Lee treated the faculty, and every mem- 
ber of it, in both official and private relations. Yet 
none the less, on those rare occasions when it became 
necessary, did he assert the full measure of his author- 
ity. He rarely spoke in faculty meetings, and then 
only at the close of debate — usually to restate the 
question at issue, seldom with any decided expression 
of his own opinion or wish. 

I remember on one ocasion a professor quoted a cer- 
tain regulation in the by-laws. Another replied that it 
had become a dead letter. "Then," said General Lee, 
"let it be repealed. A dead letter inspires disrespect 
for the whole body of laws. " 

On another occasion a professor appealed to prece- 
dent, and added, "We must not respect persons." 
General Lee at once replied: "In dealing with young 
men I always respect persons, and care little for prece- 
dent." 

When General Lee became President of Washington 
College it had been required that students should oc- 
cupy the college dormitories; only a few of the older 
students were permitted to lodge in town. General Lee 
reversed this rule. As a measure of discipline it was 
required that all students board and lodge in the fam- 
ilies of the town; to lodge in the dormitory was accorded 
as a privilege. He said the young boys needed the in- 
fluence of family life; the dormitories he regarded as 
offering temptations to license. The result vindicated 
the wisdom of his view. 

In dealing with the young men General Lee had a 



1 8 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

truly marvelous success. The students fairly wor- 
shipped him, and deeply dreaded his displeasure; yet so 
kind, affable, and gentle was he toward them that all 
loved to approach him. Still, an official summons to 
his office struck terror even into the most hardened. 

A young fellow, whose general record was none too 
good, was summoned to answer for absence. He stated 
his excuse, and then, hesitatingly, he added another and 

another. "Stop, Mr. ," said General Lee, "one 

good reason should be sufficient to satisfy an honest 
mind," with emphasis on the word "honest," that 
spoke volumes. 

Another, an excellent student, now a distinguished 
lawyer in Tennessee, was once beguiled into an un- 
excused absence. The dreaded summons came. With 
his heart in his boots he entered General Lee's office. 
The General met him smiling: "Mr. M., I am glad to 
see you are better." "But General, I have not been 
sick." "Then I am glad to see you have better news 
from home." "But, General, I have had no bad news." 
"Ah," said the General, "I took it for granted that 
nothing less than sickness or distressing news from 
home could have kept you from your duty." Mr. M. 
told me, in relating the incident, that he then felt as if 
he wished the earth would open and swallow him. 

To a recalcitrant student, who was contending for 
what he thought his rights as a man, I once heard 
General Lee say: "Obedience to lawful authority is the 
foundation of manly character," — in those very words. 

On rare occasions of disorder, actual or threatened. 



GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AS COLLEGE PRESIDENT 19 

General Lee would post a manuscript address to students 
on the bulletin board. These were known among the 
boys as his ''General Orders." They never failed of 
their effect. No student would have dared to violate 
General Lee's expressed wish or appeal — if he had done 
so the students themselves would have driven him from 
the college. 

I wish to add one other important fact, illustrating 
General Lee's view of discipline, in a case of frequent 
occurrence. He held idleness to be not negative, but 
a positive vice. It often happened that the plea was 
made that an Idle student was doing no harm and 
indirectly deriving benefit, etc. General Lee said, "No, 
a young man is always doing something; if not good 
then harm to himself and others." So that merely 
persistent idleness was with him always sufficient cause 
for dismissal. 

General Lee's ideal of education was the training of 
manly character, and that, for him, meant Christian 
character. To a venerable minister of Lexington he 
said: "I shall be disappointed, sir — I shall fail In the 
leading object that brought me here — unless these 
young men all become consistent Christians." When 
he came to Lexington the old president's house was In 
a sadly dilapidated condition. The trustees desired to 
build at once a suitable home for the president's resi- 
dence. But General Lee Insisted that the first money 
collected should be devoted to building a chapel, and he 
would not allow the president's house to be begun until 
the chapel had been completed and furnished — that 



20 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

chapel beneath which now rests his own beautiful 
mausoleum. Here daily religious services were held at 
an early hour by the ministers of Lexington in rotation 
— but not on Sunday, for General Lee preferred that the 
students should go to the church of their parents in 
the town. 

General Lee had very well defined opinions on educa- 
tional subjects. In quoting some of these it might, 
perhaps, be unjust to apply them to present conditions, 
which, of course, could not then be foreseen. He was a 
strong advocate of practical, even technical education, 
as was shown by his plans for Washington College; but 
he was equally firm in his support of training studies and 
liberal culture. I have often heard him say it had been 
his lifelong regret that he had not completed his classical 
education (in which, however, he had a respectable 
scholarship) before going to West Point. Also, he did 
not believe in separate technical schools, but thought 
"that scientific and professional studies could best be 
taught when surrounded by the liberalizing influence of 
a literary institution." Hence, he sought to unite all 
these in the development of Washington College. 

Especially, General Lee did not believe in a military 
education for others than army officers. Military edu- 
cation, he used to say, is an unfortunate necessity for 
the soldier, but the worst possible preparation for civil 
life. "For many years," he said, "I have observed 
the failure in business pursuits of men who have re- 
signed from the army. It is very rare that any one of 
them has achieved success." 



GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AS COLLEGE PRESIDENT 2i 

One incident finally, which I witnessed, illustrates 
the General's playful humor. A new roadway of broken 
stone had just been laid through the college grounds. 
Colonel J. T. L. Preston, then professor in the Military 
Institute, came riding through on his way to town. As 
the stones were new and rough, the Colonel rode along- 
side on the grass. As he approached where the General 
was standing, he halted for a talk. General Lee, putting 
his arm affectionately around the horse's neck and pat- 
ting him, said: "Colonel, this is a beautiful horse; I am 
sorry he is so tenderfooted that he avoids our new road." 
Afterwards Colonel Preston always rode on the stone- 
way. 



GENERAL LEE AT LEXINGTON 
By Professor C. A. Graves, University, Virginia 

This interesting address was delivered at the centennial celebration of 
General Lee's birth, held at the University of Virginia, January 19, 1907. 
It was published in the University of Virginia Bulletin of April, 1907. — 
Editor. 

ON August 4th, 1865, the trustees of Washing- 
ton College, Lexington, Va., elected General 
Robert E. Lee president of the institution. 
On August 24, from his temporary home in Pov/hatan 
county, General Lee accepted the office, and on Sep- 
tember 18 he rode into Lexington on his famous war 
horse "Traveller." 

On October 30th, 1865, General Lee vi^rote: "I ac- 
cepted the presidency of the college in the hope that I 
might be of some service to the country and to the rising 
generation; and not from any preference of my own. 
I should have selected a more quiet life and a more 
retired abode than Lexington, and should have pre- 
ferred a small farm where I could have earned my daily 
bread." 

The town of Lexington during General Lee's presi- 
dency of Washington College was a congenial home for 
the great chieftain of the "Lost Cause," and was not 
inaptly called the "Headquarters of the Southern Con- 
federacy." Here had been the home of Stonewall 
Jackson, and here was his tomb; here resided, when 



GENERAL LEE AT LEXINGTON 23 

General Lee arrived, Hon. John Letcher, the strong and 
resolute war governor of Virginia; General Francis H. 
Smith, the founder and superintendent of the Virginia 
Military Institute, the "West Point of the South"; 
General William N. Pendleton, chief of artillery of the 
Army of Northern Virginia; and Judge John W. Brock- 
enbrough, one of the five commissioners whom Virginia 
sent to the peace conference which met in Washington 
in February, 1861. And to Lexington there came later 
during General Lee's life Colonel William Preston John- 
ston, son of General Albert Sydney Johnston; Colonel 
William Allan, chief ordnance officer of Jackson's corps; 
Commodore Matthew F. Maury, the geographer of the 
sea, who, next, perhaps, to General Lee, sacrificed 
most in order to share the fate of his people; Colonel 
John M. Brooke, of "deep sea sounding" and "Merri- 
mac" fame; and shortly before General Lee's death, 
there came the profound lawyer and statesman, Hon. 
John Randolph Tucker, who had been attorney-general 
of Virginia throughout the war. 

The faculty of Washington College before General 
Lee's accession to the presidency, had consisted of five 
men, the president, who taught moral philosophy, and 
four professors, teachingLatin, Greek, mathematics, and 
chemistry and natural philosophy. The number of 
students had been less than one hundred. During the 
five years of General Lee's presidency the number of 
professors was more than trebled; the number of stu- 
dents was quadrupled, and the endowment of the institu- 
tion was increased many fold. He found it a college. 



24 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

and left it a university, worthy of the proud title which 
links the names of Washington and Lee. 

It is an interesting fact that General Lee's first home 
in Lexington had once been the home of Stonewall 
Jackson. This was the "Old President's House," in 
which General Lee lived for several years until the 
present "President's House," was erected. In the 
"Old President's House" had resided before the war the 
then president. Dr. George Junkin, whose daughter was 
General Jackson's first wife. And in this house General 
Jackson, both before and after the death of his wife, had 
resided as an inmate of his father-in-law's family. 

But whether in the old or new house, the home of 
General Lee was always open to the students; and what- 
ever awe "the President" may have inspired, Mrs. Lee 
and her accomplished daughters were able to make even 
the most diffident forget their embarrassment. General 
G. W. Custis Lee, at that time professor in the Virginia 
Military Institute, was also an inmate of his father's 
family. He had the reputation among the students of 
the college (whose president he was destined to become) 
of being the most courteous of gentlemen, and the most 
brilliant of mathematicians. 

And now it may be proper to describe briefly some 
characteristics of General Lee as a college president, 
especially in relation to the students. 

I. Religion. — There was one place where General 

Lee could always be seen and that was at the daily 

prayer service in the college chapel. Compulsory ar- 

tendance, however, was abolished by him after the first 

/ 




General Lee's Campus Homes at Washington College 
The building to the right was occupied by the Lee family until the com- 
pletion of the President's home, which is the large building in the foreground. 
General Lee's Office in the Chapel 
The furnishings, papers and books still remain as he left them. 



GENERAL LEE AT LEXINGTON 25 

year of his presidency. He took a deep interest in the 
Young Men's Christian Association and an account of 
its work, as a matter of great importance, always came 
first in his annual report to the board of trustees. On 
one occasion he said: "If I could only know that all the 
young men in the college were good Christians I should 
have nothing more to desire. I dread the thought of 
any student going away from the college without becom- 
ing a sincere Christian." 

2. Work. — General Lee could not tolerate idleness. 
He believed that a student who did not work did harm 
both to himself and to others. He thought the place for 
drones was at home, and he did not excuse them on the 
plea that they were "good fellows." His views with 
reference to a student of this class were once expressed 
as follows: "He is a very quiet, orderly young man, but 
seems very careful not to injure the health of his father's 
son. Now, I do not want our young men really to injure 
their health, but I wish them to come as near to it as 
possible. " 

3. Total abstinence. — On this subject extracts from 
two letters will suffice. To an organization among the 
students called "Friends of Temperance, " General Lee 
wrote: "My experience through life has convinced me 
that, while moderation and temperance in all things are 
commendable and beneficial, abstinence from spirituous 
liquor is the best safeguard of morals and health." 
And from Arlington, on May 30, 1858, he wrote to his 
son: "I think it better to avoid it (spirituous liquor) 
altogether, as its temperate use is so difficult. " 



26 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

4. Literary Societies. — In these days, when so many 
neglect the opportunity afforded by the debating society, 
these words of General Lee are timely: "There is 
scarcely a feature in the organization of the college 
more improving and beneficial to the students than the 
exercises and influence of the literary societies; and the 
good they do renders them worthy of encouragement by 
the friends of education." 

I may add that the only address I ever heard General 
Lee make (aside from informal remarks while he was 
presiding at commencement) was at a joint meeting of 
the literary societies of Washington College. He spoke 
standing on the floor, surrounded by the students. He 
was very brief. All that I now remember is that he 
declared it " the duty of the students to do all in their 
power to give eclat to the exercises of the approaching 
commencement. " 

It was generally believed in college that General Lee 
was acquainted with the standing of each student in all 
of his classes. Certain it is that his knowledge of the 
students and of their work was wonderful. He kept up 
with the absences and was quick to mark a change in a 
student's grades, whether by way of improvement or 
the reverse. His signature was on all the monthly 
reports sent to parents; and he frequently wrote them 
personal letters concerning their sons, sometimes of 
praise, and sometimes of censure. The catalogue of 
those days declared: "The President attends all exami- 
nations." In performance of this duty General Lee 
never failed to be present during the "oral," which at 



GENERAL LEE AT LEXINGTON 27 

that time formed a part of all examinations. I have 
recited in the presence of General Lee many times, and 
(especially in mathematics at the blackboard) it was a 
severe ordeal. I have often wondered how he found the 
patience to endure the many hours of attendance on the 
many classes. The last year of his presidency I con- 
ducted the "oral" in certain classes in the presence of 
General Lee, and I do not know whether the embarrass- 
ment was greater to the student or to the teacher. 

But it was not only the students with whom General 
Lee kept in touch, and whom he expected to do their 
duty. He required the professors to be at their posts 
and was displeased if they were absent from their 
classes without his knowledge. Nor did he hesitate to 
rebuke such a breach of discipline, as the following 
instance will show, which illustrates also his usual 
indirect method of conveying censure. Meeting Cap- 
tain , an assistant professor, who had been absent 

without leave for several days, he thus addressed him: 
"Good morning. Captain. I am glad to see you back 
again. It was by accident. Sir, that I learned that you 
were away. " It may safely be presumed that Captain 
(a gallant Confederate soldier, by the way), ob- 
tained permission from the president the next time he 
desired to leave town. 

I may relate here a conversation with General Lee, 
which shows how much he had the success of all the 
students at heart. He met me one morning, the winter 
before his death, when I had been teaching only a few 
months, and inquired how I was getting on with my 



28 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

work. I replied that I hoped I was doing fairly well. 
"May I give you one piece of advice, sir?" Of course, 
I said I should be delighted to receive it. "Well, sir, 
always observe the stage driver's rule. " "What is that. 
General?" "Always take care of the poor horses." 
Since this interview with General Lee I have been a 
teacher many years, and I have tried to remember that 
it is the poor students who most require care, and that 
for the success of even the poorest, loving hearts are 
hoping and praying; and I have not dared to despair. 

A word may be said of General Lee's interest in the 
community in which he lived. No one was ever more 
punctilious in the performance of social duties, and all 
strangers visiting Lexington who had the least claim on 
his attention, were sure of a visit from him. His public 
spirit led him to accept the presidency of the Valley 
Railroad, which he held at the time of his death, and he 
made a visit to Baltimore in its interest. He was also 
president of the Rockbridge Bible Society and took an 
active part in its affairs. 

It is not generally2> known that General Lee once 
prevented a lynching in Lexington. In the spring of 
1866, while I was a student at Washington College, a 
report reached the campus that an attempt was being 
made to force the jail in order to lynch a horse thief 
named Jonathan Hughes, who, in the troublous times 
after the war, had been plying his vocation in the neigh- 
borhood of Lexington. Horse-stealing had become com- 
mon, and by a then recent statute (enacted February 
12, 1866) "to, provide more effectually for the punish- 



GENERAL LEE AT LEXINGTON 29 

ment of horse-stealing," the punishment had been 
fixed at death, or, in the discretion of the jury, confine- 
ment in the penitentiary for a period of not less than 
five nor more than eighteen years. The discretion of the 
jury to inflict the death penalty for the crime was re- 
pealed in a short time, the occasion for it passing away. 

When I reached the courthouse yard, within which 
stood the jail where Hughes was confined, it was filled 
with a crowd of men who had ridden in from the coun- 
try to take the law into their own hands. At the top of 
the jail steps, in front of the locked door, stood the 
old jailor, Thomas L. Perry, holding the jail keys high 
above his head, and facing, with grim and resolute as- 
pect, the would-be lynchers who surrounded him. For 
some reason, perhaps respect for the old man's gray 
hairs, the men next to him had forborne to seize him 
and snatch from him the jail keys, as they could easily 
have done. 

What I have described above, the eye took in with a 
glance, and I was not at first aware of the presence of 
General Lee. But there he was (having evidently 
preceded me), moving quietly about among the crowd, 
addressing a few words to each group as he passed, 
begging them to let the law take its course. This scene 
continued for some time and is indelibly impressed on 
my memory. The end was there. Those stern Scotch- 
Irishmen, whose tenacity of purpose is proverbial, aban- 
doned their enterprise, remounted their horses and rode 
out of town. They could not do a deed of lawless 
violence in the presence of "Marse Robert," whose 



30 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

Standard they had followed on many a battlefield. It 
may be of interest to record that Hughes was duly 
brought to trial for horse-stealing, and on April 20, 1866, 
was convicted and sentenced to the penitentiary for 
eighteen years. 

And now it only remains to speak briefly of General 
Lee's last illness and death. On March i8th, 1870, he 
wrote: "My health has been so feeble this winter that I 
am only waiting to see the efi^ect of the opening spring 
before relinquishing my present position. I am admon- 
ished by my feelings that my years of labor are nearly 
over." His condition caused great anxiety to all con- 
nected with the college, and later in the spring he was 
persuaded by the authorities to try the effect of a visit 
to the South. On his return his health seemed improved 
and he was able to preside at commencement. 

The session of 1870-71 began on September 15 th, the 
sixth year of General Lee's presidency, and he entered 
as usual upon the duties of his ofiice. We fondly hoped 
that the danger was past and that his life would be 
prolonged. But in less than two weeks the summons 
came. On Wednesday, September 28th, he had pre- 
sided over a protracted vestry meeting and reached 
home late for tea. As he was about to ask the blessing 
his lips refused their office and he sank down in his 
chair. From the first he seemed conscious that the 
stroke was fatal and to desire to withdraw his attention 
from earthly affairs. Though for the most part ra- 
tional and able to speak, he lay for fourteen days in 
almost unbroken silence; and then "This mortal put on 



GENERAL LEE AT LEXINGTON 31 

immortality," and he passed "to where beyond these 
voices there is peace. " 

General Lee died October 12, 1870, at 9:15 A. M. 
I shall never forget the knock at the door of the lecture 
room and the notice handed in: 

"General Lee died this morning. Academic exercises 
are suspended." I read these words to the class and 
dismissed them. Already the church bells were begin- 
ning to toll. 



REMINISCENCES OF GENERAL LEE AS PRESI- 
DENT OF WASHINGTON COLLEGE 

By Professor M. W. Humphreys, University, Virginia 

The following contribution was prepared for this publication by an 
honored "Lee Alumnus" — one of the few surviving instructors in Washing- 
ton College during General Lee's presidency. — Editor. 

I ENTERED Washington College about the first 
of April in the session of 1865-6. 
General Lee tried to learn the names, or to 
seem to know the names of all the students, and would 
avail himself of any opportunity to congratulate a 
student on his standing in his studies if it was high. 

He kept himself as well informed as possible on the 
financial condition of students; who and what their 
parents were; — in short all their home affairs. He made 
use of this information in his management of the stu- 
dents. On one occasion he happened to see a student 
from Nashville throw a stone against the upper part of 
the cupola of the chapel and knock a shingle off. He 
knew that the student's father was wealthy, and re- 
quired the student to have the shingle replaced. This 
was done by a number of mechanics, who built scaf- 
folding up to the necessary height. The expense was 
said to be thirty-odd dollars. 

He learned in some way that a certain student was 
squandering money. He sent for him and among other 



REMINISCENCES OF GENERAL LEE AS PRESIDENT 33 

things said, "The money that you are squandering 
represents the sweat of your father's brow." 

He often gave students advice concerning their stud- 
ies. I will cite illustrations to show his conception of 
education. 

A very young, poorly prepared man (Parrott) once 
reported to him for matriculation. As was his wont, he 
asked the applicant if he had any definite object in 
view or desired any special line of studies. The applicant 
replied, "I have come to take M. A." There was a 
twinkle in General Lee's eye, but he commended the 
applicant's purpose, and said, "Mr. Humphreys here 
will tell you what studies to take up for the present." 
(We had preparatory classes in those days.) I think it 
required six years, but Parrott took his M. A. 

One cold morning a few of us were gathered at the 
source of heat in the chapel, waiting for the preacher, 
about 7:40 A. M. It was about Christmas time. Gen- 
eral Lee came in and joined us. A young man asked 
him for permission to drop Latin and take up chemistry 
instead, stating that it was his last session; that he was 
going to Texas to try to make his fortune, and that he 
wanted to be learning practical branches. General Lee 
pointed out to him at some length the absurdity (he did 
not call it that) of supposing that in a half session he 
could learn enough chemistry to be of any practical use 
to him, and told him that if he would, here in Virginia, 
do the work and undergo the privations necessary for 
success in Texas, he would succeed at least as well as he 
would in Texas. He then told us about life in Texas, as- 



34 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

suring us that he knew by personal observation the 
truth of what he was saying. Long afterwards (1883-7) 
I found his portrayal to be still remarkably accurate. I 
do not think the minister came that morning. I will 
here say that when the minister acting as chaplain 
failed to appear General Lee would sit till nearly 8 
o'clock (when lectures began), and then, without 
saying a word, get up and walk out. He always at- 
tended chapel. This I know, for I always attended, 
even when I boarded i}4 miles in the country and often 
went without my breakfast. A pious friend of mine 
once said to me, "I am afraid you were worshipping 
Lee rather than Jehovah." I replied, " I was." 

I wish to be very clear, positive, and explicit. I once 
published a statement which was quoted in an article by 
Professor E, S. Joynes, who in turn was quoted by the 
author of a book the title of which I have forgotten. 
This author had not seen my article (in Wake Forest 
Student)'* and almost expresses doubt of the correct- 
ness of my statement, though, assuming it to be true, 
he devotes considerable space to a discussion of the 
subject.f I will presently repeat the incident. First, 
however, I wish to say that General Lee's discipline was 
just the opposite of what one would naturally expect 
from a man who had received military training and had 
exercised military authority for many years. In fact, 
he seemed to have an aversion for military usages. It 

* This article appeared in the Wake Forest Student for January, 1907. — 
Editor, 
t See Bradford's Lee the American, 233-4. — Editor. 
I 



REMINISCENCES OF GENERAL LEE AS PRESIDENT 35 

sometimes happened that the faculties of the college 
and the military institute followed by the students and 
cadets marched in a joint procession. On such occasions 
General Lee and General Smith (superintendent of 
V. M. I.) marched side by side. General Smith always 
held himself in an exact military posture and brought 
his feet, especially the left one, down firmly in perfect 
time, whereas not even the beating of the bass drum 
could make General Lee keep step. He simply walked 
along in a natural manner, but although this manner 
appeared so natural, it seemed to me that he consciously 
avoided keeping step, so uniformly did he fail to plant 
his foot simultaneously with General Smith or at the 
beat of the drum. 

When the reports (at first weekly, afterwards monthly) 
were handed in by the professors and other instructors. 
General Lee carefully examined every detail in each 
student's report. If marked neglect of study or irregu- 
larity of attendance at lectures or recitations was indi- 
cated, he summoned the student to his office and had 
a talk with him. If this method of reforming him 
proved hopeless, he wrote to the student's parent or 
guardian, requesting that the student be called home. 
A roommate of mine was called home in this way, 
though, so far as I knew or had reason to believe, he 
was not guilty of any positive vices except that he 
wrote verses so persistently that he was dubbed "The 
College Bard" by his fellow students; but he simply 
could not make himself study, though he resolved and 
re-resolved to "stand at the head of his classes," 



36 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

recording his resolutions at short intervals in his 
diary. 

In cases where positive vices were concerned he was 
careful to have the facts established with absolute cer- 
tainty. A good illustration of this was an incident which 
I did not witness, but which I learned from several 
professors. A student was charged with habitual dis- 
sipation. Much hearsay evidence was adduced by 
various professors, one of them declaring it to be *'Jama 
clomosa' that the accused habitually frequented bar- 
rooms and was often intoxicated. Not a voice was 
raised in his favor and it was evident that, if it were put 
to a vote, he would be unanimously dismissed. But 
General Lee, instead of taking the vote, asked two 
questions: "Have any of you seen this young man intoxi- 
cated.'"' No response. "Have any of you seen him 
entering barrooms?" No response. Then General Lee 
startled the faculty. He said in substance: "We must 
be very careful how we are influenced by hearsay. Dur- 
ing the war at a time when my physical and mental 
strain was intense, / was reported to the executive as 
being habitually intoxicated and unfit for the discharge of 
my duties. " A motion to lay on the table was unani- 
mously adopted. The student remained in college. It 
was currently reported that General Lee had an inter- 
view [with him which led to permanent reforma- 
tion. 

In the session of 1866-7 ^^ students petitioned the 
faculty for a week's holiday at Christmas instead of the 
single day that had been adopted in imitation of the 



REMINISCENCES OF GENERAL LEE AS PRESIDENT 37 

University of Virginia (as it then was). The petition 
was declined. A paper was started around for the signa- 
tures of students pledging themselves not to attend any 
lectures from Christmas to New Year's day. When 
sixty-nine students, including my roommate but not 
myself, had signed this paper, news of the movement 
came to General Lee's ears, and he merely said in the 
hearing of two or three students: " Every man that signs 
that paper will be summarily dismissed. If all sign 
it, I shall lock up the college and put the keys in my 
pocket." I told my roommate about this and he 
ran to college (a mile and a half) to scratch his name 
off; but he could not find the paper. It had been 
destroyed. 

I now narrate, in greater detail than in the fVake 
Forest Student the incident mentioned before, and I 
wish to emphasize the correctness of my statement. I 
cannot be mistaken about a thing that astounded me 
more than anything else ever did in my long life of 
many varied experiences. 

When I was assistant professor of Latin and Greek and 
taught four daily classes (each six times a week), a 
great evil became prevalent. Very often a student, 
when called on to recite, would say "unprepared," 
and then, after the class was dismissed, would tell me 
that he was sick the night before, or rarely would offer 
some other excuse. I undertook to put an end to this 
demoralizing custom. I called at General Lee's office, 
stated the above facts to him and told him that I 
wished to try a remedy for the evil, but that the rule I 



38 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

wished to adopt as a remedy would be hard to enforce 
unless it had his approval. The rule was this: If a 
student was unprepared, he must write his excuse 
concisely on a slip of paper and lay it on my table (or 
desk) before the recitation began. If he failed to do 
this and answered "unprepared" when called on, he 
must take zero no matter what his excuse might be. 
General Lee pondered a moment, gave his approval and 
added in substance: "But as a general principle you 
should not force young men to do their duty, but let 
them do it voluntarily and thereby develop their char- 
acters. " I suppose I showed some surprise, for, making 
some remark that showed he had read my thoughts, he 
added these exact words: " The great mistake of my life 
was taking a military education.'* 

Whether men can or cannot conjecture what course 
General Lee thought he ought to have pursued, is a 
matter of no concern to me; he certainly used the above 
quoted words. 

As to the effect of General Lee's presidency on the 
number of students (and professors, for that matter) 
it is sufficient to note that during the session of 1 860-61 
there were 83 (eighty-three) students (if my count was 
correct, no catalogue, so far as I know, having been 
published). There were a president, four professors 
(Latin, Greek, mathematics, and chemistry), and two 
tutors (for freshman mathematics). The president 
taught "Moral Philosophy" and "Belles Lettres." A 
foreigner gave private instruction in French (and possi- 
bly German) to such as cared to pay him for his instruc- 



REMINISCENCES OF GENERAL LEE AS PRESIDENT 39 

tion. The professor of mathematics taught applied 
mathematics.* 

Just once it was my lot to receive a severe rebuke from 
General Lee. While I was an undergraduate my 
health seemed to become impaired, and he had a con- 
versation with me about it, in which he expressed the 
opinion that I was working too hard. I replied: "I am 
so impatient to make up for the time I lost in the 
army — " I got no further. Lee flushed and exclaimed in 
an almost angry tone: " Mr. Humphreys! However long 
you live and whatever you accomplish, you will find 
that the time you spent in the Confederate army was 
the most profitably spent portion of your life. Never 
again speak of having lost time in the army. " And I 
never again did. 

* The report of the faculty to the trustees under dateof June 20, 1865, says: 
"The institution has been kept open during the past session chiefly as a 
preparatory school. The number of pupils in attendance has varied from 30 
to 45." The next session opened Sept. 15, 1865, with 22 students. These 
facts are taken from the MS. volume of Records of the Meetings of the 
Faculty of Washington College commencing Feb. 24, 1857. — Editor. 



RECOLLECTIONS OF GENERAL LEE 

By F. A. Berlin, Oakland, California 

The author of this sketch died September 3, 1920, a few months after 
sending it to the editor of this publication. — Editor. 

I MUST preface my remarks by saying that when 
I entered Washington & Lee University I was 
only seventeen years old, and like everybody 
else in Virginia, I venerated the name of General 
Lee. As I was quite young at that time and took a 
somewhat pretentious course at the university, I was 
busy every moment of the time that I was there. I 
did not therefore have much time for social or recrea- 
tional duties, and, of course, because of my age, and 
because I was a freshman, I had a subordinate stand- 
ing. Consequently there is not very much that I can 
speak of from my own knowledge. 

About September ist, 1864, I entered Roanoke Col- 
lege at Salem, Va., and remained there until the college 
closed in April, 1865, immediately after the surrender 
of General Lee. I had expected to return to Roanoke 
College again whenever it opened, but it became known 
before the next term opened that General Robert 
E. Lee would become president of Washington College. 
As my parents and I thought that the influence and 
example of General Lee would be of inestimable value 
to the young men of the South, it was decided that I 



RECOLLECTIONS OF GENERAL LEE 41 

should enter Washington College on the first of Septem- 
ber, 1865. 

At that time my family was living at Bridgewater, 
Rockingham county, Virginia, and the only means of 
communication between our town and Lexington was 
by stage. So I traveled to Lexington by stage and 
arrived there I think on the last day of August, suppos- 
ing that the term would open the next day. But when 
I reached Lexington there was no one there whom I 
knew, and upon inquiry at the college buildings I 
found out that the buildings would not be ready for the 
occupancy of the students for about two weeks, as the 
property had been very seriously damaged by the 
Federal troops during their raid into that town. When 
I learned these facts I at once became homesick, and 
as the stage had left, determined to walk home, a 
distance of about sixty miles. So I left my trunk in 
storage and started to walk and did walk almost the 
entire distance home. On the way Mr. RuflFner, who 
was then state superintendent of schools in Virginia, 
with his wife, in a one-horse buggy, overtook me and 
very kindly allowed me to crouch in the front part of 
their buggy, for some few miles. 

On arrival at home of course my family was very 
much surprised to see me. But at the end of two weeks, 
when I learned definitely that the college was ready to 
open its exercises, I took the stage again and returned 
to Lexington and was present on the opening day, some- 
where about the 15th of September, 1865. A few days 
after I arrived there General Lee was installed as presi- 



42 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

dent of the college. I remember very well the installa- 
tion exercises took place in the south end of the building. 
I think it was called "South Hall," but of this I am not 
sure. However, it was next to the south dormitories. 
And on the second floor of that building, in a room 
which had been used or prepared for a lecture room, and 
where afterwards I attended lectures under Professor 
John Campbell, in the physics course, and there General 
Lee was inaugurated as president of the college. As I 
remember, there were not more than thirty persons 
present at that inauguration. It seemed to us a rather 
solemn occasion. General Lee looked very serious at 
that time. He doubtless felt that the whole world was 
looking upon him as a defeated soldier. I do not 
remember now who administered the oath to him, 
but I remember that the oath was administered in the 
usual form, to the effect that he would faithfully fulfill 
the duties of the office of president of the university. 
I do not recollect that there was any speech making on 
that occasion, probably a mere introduction. 

As I remember, we were not engaged in the room more 
than ten or fifteen minutes, and then all retired to our 
respective homes and to the tasks assigned to us for 
our opening studies. I think the room adjoining this 
lecture room of Professor Campbell's was selected for 
General Lee's office. I know he occupied an adjoining 
room during the whole time I was at the university. 

I entered the college when it opened, immediately 
after the war, September, 1865, and remained there for 
two sessions, that is, 1865-66 and 1866-67. In the 



RECOLLECTIONS OF GENERAL LEE 43 

summer of 1867 my father concluded, as there were 
five younger children in our family and as I had had 
the benefit of three years at college, that I ought to 
give some portion of my time to the instruction of the 
younger children. I did not, therefore, re-enter Wash- 
ington College again, but taught at home for one year, 
and I then entered the University of Virginia, session 
1868-69, where I remained for two years in the academic 
course and finished the law course at the end of the 
third year, taking the degree of B. L. in June, 1871. 

It is not necessary for me to say anything about the 
devotion of the people of Virginia and of the entire 
South to General Lee and how they regarded him as on 
a pinnacle by himself as one of the truest, bravest, and 
noblest men, and yet in a certain way he was an effem- 
inate man because he was so extremely kind, gentle, and 
considerate of everybody, and always had a spirit of 
deference for others. I remember often seeing him 
cross the street at the corner between his residence and 
the Episcopal church. In winter that crossing was very 
bad in those days, and the only means of crossing, to 
keep out of the mud, was by a board plank about a foot 
wide. I have frequently seen General Lee crossing that 
plank and stepping off to the side when some one was 
coming in the opposite direction. 

General Lee was in very close touch with all the boys. 
He tried to be their friend and comrade, and in the 
kindest manner made suggestions to them and in every 
way encouraged them in the performance of their 
duties. He would always make his appeals to them on 



44 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

the ground of their duty to their parents, who were 
making sacrifices for their education and that they 
should take advantage of the educational opportunities 
afforded them at college. 

As I was very young I never had the opportunity 
of attending any social functions at his home. He had 
in the town of Lexington the reputation of being the most 
devoted of husbands to his invalid wife. I think that 
during the time I was in Lexington there was very 
little, if any, entertaining done at his home because oi 
Mrs. Lee's ill health. 

Of course, the president's house was not built during 
the first year I was at college and I do not remember 
exactly when it was built, but I know that while I was 
there arrangements were made for erecting this building 
on the west side of the street opposite the Episcopal 
church. 

During the second year I was at college I was fortu- 
nate enough to live in the home of Governor Letcher, 
who had been the war governor of Virginia. I happened 
to be there because Mrs. Letcher was my mother's first 
cousin. She was one of the most charming women I 
ever met, and she made my stay there as pleasant as 
if I had been in my own home. At that time Governor 
Letcher was in active practice of the law in Lexington^ 
and was one of the most prominent lawyers in that 
section of the state. He was a jolly good fellow. Mrs. 
Letcher was an ideal housekeeper and an ideal wife 
and mother. At that time her oldest daughter. Miss 
Lizzie Letcher, was a young lady and was one of the 



RECOLLECTIONS OF GENERAL LEE 45 

belles of Virginia, and exceedingly popular throughout 
the state and particularly among the students. Gen- 
eral Lee was very fond of Mrs. Letcher and Miss Lizzie 
and often came to visit them, and therefore I frequently 
had the pleasure of meeting him socially in their home. 
General Lee visited that home in the same free and 
easy manner as if he were a member of the household. 

I do not remember that in all my experience I have 
ever heard a harsh word or criticism of any kind spoken 
of General Lee. All of the students loved and revered 
him, and it was a great pleasure for us to meet him on 
the street or on the campus and doflF our hats in honor 
to him. 

During the session of 1865-66 there were compara- 
tively few boys of the South who were able to attend 
college because of the financial reverses caused by the 
war. If I remember correctly, there were not more 
than 150 students there during that year, and for that 
reason we were more of a little family at college than 
subsequently; for the next year, about 400 students 
matriculated. As there were then no boarding houses 
on the campus and only a few dormitories the boys 
were scattered all over the town and vicinity and we 
could not be brought into close contact with them all. 
As a result many cliques and coteries were formed 
among the students. 

I remember several times purchasing a number of 
small photographs of General Lee and going to his office 
and asking for his autograph to them, which he always 
very kindly and promptly gave. I think this was the 



46 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

practice among the students. One day I purchased 
half a dozen small photographs of him, which I thought 
to be good, and took them to his office and asked for his 
autograph. He very kindly told me that he was very 
busy that day and requested me to leave them, which 
I did, and that I should call another day, which he 
specified, and he would have them ready for me. A few 
days after that I called upon him and he had signed his 
name to all the photographs which I had left (some of 
which I still have). He then went to his secretary and 
took therefrom another photograph which had recently 
been made at Washington, D. C, by Gardner, and he 
said to me "I think this is one of the best photographs 
of myself that I have seen. I want to give you one of 
them," and he signed his name at the bottom of it and 
gave it to me. This photograph I still have and prize 
very highly. In those days at college it was customary 
to send out a report of the student's standing at the end 
of each month, so that my father received every month 
a report of my standing at college. During the first 
year I was at college my report was very good. It was 
customary to post on Saturday in the South Hall a list 
of the students with their relative standing, and I 
remember that F. J. Snyder, whose name was Flavius 
Joseph Snyder, always stood at the top of the list. He 
had been a Confederate soldier and was somewhat 
older than the rest of us and came from West Virginia. 
I also remember that I was very frequently second on 
that list, and always had a good standing. During the 
session of 1 866-67 ^ ^^^ ^ good many studies and there- 



RECOLLECTIONS OF GENERAL LEE 47 

fore my standing was not so high, although very fair. 
I remember a letter that General Lee wrote to my father, 
telling him that I was undertaking to do too much 
"notwithstanding excellent capacity." I prized this 
letter very much, but this and other letters from Gen- 
eral Lee were burned in my office in San Francisco 
in 1906, the time of the great earthquake and fire, and 
has been regarded as an irreparable loss to me. 

I met General Lee a number of times after I had left 
college, and he seemed to remember me and my name 
and was always very kind and cordial to me. 

I remember when I was at the University of Virginia 
I heard one day that he was going to pass the university 
on a train, on the way to Richmond. As the train 
always stopped a few minutes at the university station 
I went down to the station determined to see him. I 
got on the car there and rode down to Charlottesville. 
This was the last time I had the pleasure of meeting 
him personally. 

Therefore, you can well understand that the sweetest 
and dearest memories of my college career, and of my 
life in fact, are associated with General Lee. I do not 
remember ever passing him upon the street or on the 
campus at Lexington but that he stopped and spoke 
to me often about some commonplace matter, but just 
enough to show me that he knew I was a student there 
and that I was one of his wards in the college, and 
enough to assure me that he felt an interest in me as he 
did in all the other boys. All that I know personally 
of General Lee is these little personal contacts. 



48 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

When I determined to enter the University of Vir- 
ginia in 1868, I thought that as I had been at Washing- 
ton College it would be proper for me to ta,ke to the 
University of Virginia a letter of commendation, or at 
least some statement to the effect that I had been a 
student at Washington College and what my character 
and standing were there; and I had a very lovely letter 
from General Lee, which came very promptly in an- 
swer to my request for the same, commending me to the 
officers of the University of Virginia. That letter, 
unfortunately, also went in the fire. 

Of course, I have read a great deal about General Lee 
and have read many books relating to him, but if I 
had written a biography of General Lee when I was 
eighteen years old, the above is about what I would 
have said. These memories come back to me with the 
spirit of a boy, not as a treatise on history or ethics or 
biography. I do not know that these random thoughts 
will be of any advantage to you, but since I have always 
been loyal to Washington and Lee University, and am 
willing to say and do whatever I can in memory of our 
immortal Lee, I write these thoughts to show my 
loyalty to the cause. 



TRIBUTE OF AN APPRECIATIVE STUDENT 
By W. W. Estill, Lexington, Kentucky 

I HAD a cousin, who at the time of my reaching 
Lexington was an assistant professor. He kindly 
allowed me to become an inmate of his home. 
As he was a resident of the town, an ex-Confederate 
officer, and well acquainted socially, I was soon by 
him introduced to all the homes where he visited. I 
well recollect my first visit to the home of General Lee. 
Just before we entered the house my cousin said, "It is 
the custom here to introduce a stranger to the first mem- 
ber of the family we meet and after that you will allow 
that member to do as seems best." I met Miss Mildred 
Lee that night and was charmed with her manner and 
conversation. Subsequently I met all the family and 
was more than once invited to social gatherings at the 
house. I was never before so close to General Lee. I 
was struck with his looks and bearing. I thought then 
and still think that he was by far the handsomest man 
I ever saw. His splendid physique, grand carriage 
without "airs," universal politeness, and evident kind 
heart, impressed me greatly, and to this day I can see 
him as plainly as then. 

Every afternoon, rain or shine, he mounted "Travel- 
ler" and had a ride. He always, as I recall him, wore a 
double-breasted gray coat, buttoned to the throat, with 



so GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

black buttons, top boots, a pair of spurs, gauntlet 
gloves, a large light-colored hat with a military cord 
around it. His poise was perfect, and I enjoyed looking 
at him every time he passed, and I suspect I stopped 
and looked at him hundreds of times. 

He was very approachable, easy to talk to and always 
appeared willing to hear. I have seen little girls go up 
to him on the street, take his hand, and walk and talk 
with him as with a parent. 

Once a Scottish gentleman, a Mr. McCrea, I think, 
came to Lexington and called on General Lee. He 
proposed to give a lecture at the Franklin Library and 
turn over the proceeds to its treasurer. I went to hear 
him and fortunately had a seat by the side of General 
Lee. The lecture was very humorous and excited Gen- 
eral Lee to laughter several times. This did not attract 
attention, but being so close to him I could see his 
body quiver with suppressed laughter. He thoroughly 
enjoyed it, and said so afterwards. 

A young man from Baltimore was drowned just below 
the dam in the river while I was there. As soon as I 
heard of it, I instinctively wanted to see General Lee, 
so I went directly to his house in company with a 
companion, and we asked what we could do. I do not 
now remember his words, but he seemed to be master 
of the situation, quickly told us what to do and we 
passed out. How very careful and thoughtful he was 
of the students can best be illustrated by telling how he 
treated me when my mother died. I was too far from 
home to attempt to return when I received a telegram 



TRIBUTE OF AN APPRECIATIVE STUDENT 51 

announcing her death. I handed it to my roommate, 
asked him to take it to General Lee and tell him I 
would not attend any classes for two or three days. At 
the end of the month when my report came out there 
was not a single absent mark against me. This can only 
be accounted for by General Lee's going to each pro- 
fessor to whom I recited and telling him. To me this is 
a remarkable illustration of his kindness to and care 
for the boys entrusted to him. If I had no other reason, 
I would love him for that yet. 

Everyone obeyed him, not because they feared but 
because they loved him, and I don't think there was one 
of the about 800 boys who were there but would have 
died defending him if necessary. I was never called to 
his office, but I have heard the boys who were say his 
admonitions were as tender as a mother's and his 
warnings and instructions always fatherly and wise. In 
all the years that have passed I have thought of him 
and to this day the things I learned from listening 
to his conversation, watching his bearing and example 
I carry with me as a most important part of my 
education. 

Some years ago I visited the rooms of the Virginia 
Historical Society at Richmond chiefly to see if there 
was on its walls a good likeness of General Lee. I am 
sorry to say that I did not see one that pleased me and 
so told the lady in charge. I have a picture of him, 
which he gave me and to which I saw him attach his 
autograph. 

I don't want to close this bad sketch without telling 



52 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

of a meeting General Lee had with one of his old soldiers 
in Richmond, Virginia, a few months after the surren- 
der. His daughter. Miss Mildred Lee, told me this 
incident and said that she witnessed it. She and her 
father were sitting one day in the back of the front hall 
when the door bell rang. Her father walked to the door 
and opened it. There stood in the door a long, tall, 
lean man, dressed in homespun and his shoes and lower 
part of his trousers covered with dust. He grabbed the 
General's extending hand and spoke about as follows: 
"General Lee, I followed you four years and done the 
best I knowed how. Me and my wife live on a little 
farm away up on the Blue Ridge mountains. We heard 
the Yankees wasn't treating you right, and I come 
down to see 'bout it. If you will come up thar we will 
take care of you the best we know how as long as we 
live." Before this was over the soldier held both of 
General Lee's hands and tears were dropping from the 
eyes of each. Pretty soon General Lee released one of 
his hands and reached out and took up a box containing 
a suit of clothes that had never been opened and spoke 
about as follows: "My friend, I don't need a thing. 
My friends all over the country have been very kind and 
have sent me more clothes than I can possibly use, so 
I want to thank you for coming and give you this new 
suit." The man snatched his hand from General Lee, 
crossed his arms, straightened himself up and said, 
"General Lee, I can't take nothin' oflFen you." After 
a few moments he relaxed, put one hand on the box and 
said, "Yes, I will. General, I will carry them back home, 



TRIBUTE OF AN APPRECIATIVE STUDENT 53 

put them away and when I die the boys will put them 
on me." 

This has nothing to do with his college life, but it is 
too good to die. His own daughter told me of it and I 
am sure it is true. I have never seen it in print, so 
presume it has never been printed. 

I have taught my sons — I have no daughters — my 
friends and my neighbors to love General Lee and honor 
his memory. I have never seen his equal upon this 
earth and never expect to. What he was, I ardently 
wish all men could be. 



REFLECTIONS OF A LEE ALUMNUS 
By Judge Robert Ewing, Nashville, Tennessee 

IT is my recollection, though it has been a long 
time since I studied classical literature, that when 
Queen Dido commanded ^neas to describe to her 
what had taken place at Troy, the old hero said that 
in doing so she ordered him "to renew his grief." At 
least, that is the way my dear old professor of Latin, 
Carter J. Harris, of blessed memory, used to require 
me to translate those lines of Virgil. How different is 
my feeling from that of the Trojan leader when, at 
your request, I attempt to send a few lines embodying 
some of the memories of the years 1867-8, which I 
spent at Washington College, filled as they were with 
the keenest pleasure. 

When I read General Lee's modestly couched agree- 
ment to accept from the trustees the presidency of the 
college, and thus to continue to serve his country in a 
different, though equally as great a way as he had just 
ceased to serve it, I was, though a mere lad and wholly 
unprepared for entry, fired with the desire to serve 
under him, and, if possible, learn to know him as he 
was, and catch from him some inspiration. 

My father had died in Atlanta in 1864, serving the 
same cause which General Lee had served. His fortune 
had been swept away at the fall of Nashville, and I had 



REFLECTIONS OF A LEE ALUMNUS S5 

been compelled to work to support myself. By hard 
work I had saved a little fund and felt that I could not 
better invest it than by going to Lexington and placing 
myself under General Lee. Though I have since sadly 
realized that I did not study while there as I should 
have done, and as the General was solicitous to have all 
who attended do, I count not as lost the time spent 
there, for at my impressionable age and with my intense 
feeling, simply to have met General Lee and to have 
watched so noble a hero daily performing such high 
duties, was almost equivalent to the beginning, at least, 
of acquiring a liberal education. 

A majority of the students were young men who had, 
four years before, entered the Southern Army as mere 
boys. They had served as soldiers under General Lee, 
and at that time had the spirit of grown men. They 
needed no spur to endeavor, other than their reverence 
for General Lee and their own determination to seize 
upon the only opportunity existing to prepare them- 
selves for useful lives. That they worked to a purpose, 
their after careers in life, some of which I have kept up 
with pretty closely, clearly demonstrated; in fact, the 
spirit of all was admirable. 

But little attention was paid to dress, or the securing 
of personal comforts. Students knew the strained 
financial situation of their home people at that time, and 
were too proud to call for any but the most necessary 
aid. Under the circumstances, entrance to the college 
was made easier then than it is or should be now. The 
faculty consisted of men of ability and strong common 



S6 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

sense, whose sole purpose seemed to be to take hold 
vigorously of the situation as it existed, and without any 
sort of friction they supported General Lee very whole- 
heartedly in his purposes. 

Though the General himself had expressed some 
doubt as to his suitability to serve as president, no one 
else, I am sure, ever had occasion to feel that he was 
other than the ideal executive. The college started out 
lacking money, of course; but the services of very able 
men were then to be obtained for comparatively small 
compensation — men who truly appreciated what the 
times called for and what General Lee was seeking to 
accomplish. They were loyal to the core, both to him 
and to the college. Then, too, it was not a difficult 
matter for so great a leader of men and so accomplished 
a scholar to marshal us the way he desired us to go. We 
were not exactly afraid of the General, but we were so 
unwilling to do anything which would justly merit his 
censure that this respect really amounted to fear. I 
never remember to have seen him smile. He seemed 
borne down by an overwhelming sorrow, the nature of 
which all knew. Besides, he was gravely intent on 
what he regarded as very grave duties. I do not mean 
to convey the idea that he was austere or loftily un- 
approachable. Far from it! In a smiling way, I would 
say that he only seemed so to those whose low marks in 
their studies caused him to send for them for "personal 
consultation." It is needless to say that such interviews 
generally ended with pretty sincere promises on the 
part of those sent for to do better. I do not remember a 



REFLECTIONS OF A LEE ALUMNUS 57 

single case where a student actually sought to deceive 
him, though many culprits came away from his office 
with his signed photographs. That was quite a popular, 
transparent dodge, though such souvenirs were really 
very much prized by the boys and their home people as 
well. I remember sending one to my sister, and one to 
another fellow's sister, though I am not going to say 
what was the exact occasion for my purchasing them at 
Miley's photograph gallery. I will admit, though, that 
the General's close scrutiny of the progress being made 
by each student was such that he did not overlook 
even me. 

Self-confidence in his ability to do great things in a 
great way may possibly have appeared to some to have 
been lacking in General Lee, but this was only an 
appearance easily accounted for by his excessive mod- 
esty. He knew what he had accomplished as a military 
leader and what ability under such adversities had been 
required. He knew that he could perform efficiently 
the duties of president of the college, or he certainly 
would not have accepted the office. It was not with 
him a mere lending of his great name to an institution 
engaged in a great cause which he himself had been 
strongly advocating — the education of Southern youth. 
His hesitant acceptance was simply an honest notice to 
the trustees not to expect too much of him in purely 
technical matters. I venture to say that the most 
trained executive living at that time could not have 
accomplished as much good as he did, simply because 
he had the power to bring out, and did bring out, the 



58 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

very best that there was in every student. He individ- 
ually was able to do this because of the profound 
esteem in which he was held by all. I believe the work 
was agreeable to him, because he knew that the people 
he loved were earnestly seeking that which he knew to 
be to their best interests. I believe that those young 
men who went from the halls of Washington College, the 
University of Virginia, and other institutions, had very 
much to do with the recovery of the South and getting 
her on the plane she now occupies before the world. 

As soon as the recumbent statue of the General was 
finished and placed in the chapel, I obtained a large 
photograph of it, and it has ever since hung in my hall as 
one of my prized possessions. I see it daily, but I 
never gaze upon it without feeling that I was indeed 
fortunate to have known in life The Ideal Man of 
THE World, for such I always considered him. 



REMINISCENCES OF GENERAL LEE AND 
WASHINGTON COLLEGE 

By Richard W. Rogers, Zebulon, Georgia 

EARLY in September, 1867, a party of young 
men composed of David L. Anderson, who 
died as a Methodist Missionary in China; 
W. W. Collins, Louis Bond, John Powers, J. Frank 
Rogers, J. W. Lockett and the writer left Macon, 

'irgia, to enter Washington College. We went via 
Richmond to Lynchburg, where we took a canal boat 
for the remaining thirty miles of the journey. This 
canal trip was a novel experience for us. The boat was 
propelled by mule power, the mules walking along the 
tow path on the bank. In spite of the new experience, 
the trip was slow and tedious. 

When we reached Lexington, we sought Dr. Kirk- 
patrick, professor of moral philosophy, to whom we had 
letters of introduction from Dr. David Wills, a Presby- 
terian minister of Macon. Dr. Kirkpatrick became a 
true friend to the "Macon club" and remained so as 
long as we were in college. He soon secured board for us 
at the home of an elect Virginia lady, Mrs. Estill. The 
next morning, with some trepidation, we repaired to 
General Lee's office to matriculate. He received us 
very graciously, made inquiries about our studies, and 
the classes we expected to enter. We were somewhat 



6o GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

awed in the presence of "the great Virginian," so we 
answered in rather few words. We were all greatly 
relieved, however, to know that our certificates from 
Professors R. M. McClellan and R. A. Slaughter, our 
Macon instructors, would admit us without examination 
to the clashes for which we applied. It is a source of 
pleasure to recall that each one of our number made a 
creditable record in all his work. 

I have often been asked about General Lee as a 
teacher. He heard no classes; in fact, I never saw him 
enter a recitation room, except during the intermediate 
and final examinations. These examinations lasted 
from nine in the morning until the last man handed in 
his papers, which in some instances was near midnight. 
Some of the professors served lunch at noon; in other 
rooms we fasted. General Lee would come in during 
the day and sit an hour or two, but took no part. The 
examinations were both oral and written; I stood 
several oral ones in his presence. He knew the class 
standing of every student, and there were over four 
hundred of us. On inquiry of a father once as to his 
son's standing. General Lee replied: "He is careful not 
to injure his health by too much study." Among my 
most highly prized possessions is a letter from him to my 
father, Dr. C. Rogers, in regard to my class standing. 

Inquiries are often made of me about General Lee 
as a disciplinarian. Never was there a body of young 
men under finer control, and yet there was never any 
evidence of control. General Lee's slightest wish was 
law for the student body. We all honored and respected 



GENERAL LEE AND WASHINGTON COLLEGE 6i 

him, and obeyed, yet no word was ever said of disci- 
pline. At the end of each month, a list of names was 
published on the bulletin board with the request to call 
at General Lee's office. These were the boys who were 
not making good, either in class standing or in deport- 
ment. Each one was interviewed privately, no one on 
the outside ever knowing what passed. It was the 
rarest thing that a student needed a second interview. 
In a few instances, young men were quietly sent home, 
and no mention made of it in public. I once asked a 
student what General Lee said to him in his interview. 
He declared that he did not remember, but said that 
he talked to him like a father. He said: "I was so 
frightened when I first went in that I forgot to say 
'Good morning.' " 

About the only mischief the boys ever got into was an 
occasional callithump or mock serenade. It was a 
noisy time sure enough, as we used horns, fifes, tin pans, 
bells and so on. The entire town was visited and the 
citizens seemed to enjoy it, too. No property was ever 
damaged, nobody ever hurt, though night was some- 
times made hideous. Innocent pranks were often 
played on the new boys, especially by the "Sons of 
Confucius." However, there was never any hazing. 

There were two literary societies, the Graham and 
the Washington. I belonged to the former. We met 
every Saturday night and generally closed about 
twelve. Some of the boys were fine debaters. How we 
boys were thrilled by the eloquence of George B. Peters 
and the remarkable logic of Clifton Breckenridge ! The 



62 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

entire student body belonged to these societies and the 
deepest interest was taken. 

There were four churches in Lexington then. Gen- 
eral Lee, by the way, was a devout Episcopalian. 
General Pendleton was rector of the Episcopal church; 
Dr. Samuel Rogers was pastor of the Methodist church; 
Dr. J. William Jones, of Confederate fame, was pastor 
of the Baptist church, and Dr. John Pratt was pastor of 
the Presbyterian church. The Presbyterian church was 
the largest. Most of the students attended it, even 
those belonging to other denominations. On one 
occasion General Pendleton at a vestry meeting com- 
plained to General Lee that the Episcopal students did 
not attend their church as they should. He said, "even 
my son goes to the Presbyterian church; I suppose he is 
attracted by Dr. Pratt's eloquence." "I rather think," 
replied General Lee, " that the attraction is not so much 
Dr. Pratt's eloquence as it is Dr. Pratt's Grace," re- 
ferring to his attractive daughter of that name who was 
a favorite of the students. Rev. H. Waddell Pratt, a 
worthy son of a noble father, is now pastor of the 
Presbyterian church in Abbeville, S. C. 

Our commencements drew immense crowds; the 
orator was always a man of national fame. R. A. 
Holland delivered on such an occasion the most schol- 
arly address I ever heard. Sometimes the speakers 
eulogized General Lee; this was always offensive to him. 

In personal appearance, General Lee was a fine 
specimen of Southern manhood. His manner was 
grave and dignified. As I recall, I never saw him laugh. 



GENERAL LEE AND WASHINGTON COLLEGE 63 

I used to meet him daily after the day's work was over, 
mounted on his old gray warhorse, accompanied by his 
youngest daughter, Miss Mildred. As they passed up 
the streets of Lexington, he had a word of greeting for 
every one. 

I shall never forget the last time I saw him. Just after 
commencement in June, 1869, a crowd of us boarded the 
stage, about nine o'clock at night, for Goshen where we 
were to take the train for our distant homes. The stage 
stopped in front of the Lee home, the driver informing 
us that one of General Lee's daughters was to be a 
passenger. While we were waiting, the other boys 
decided to go in and bid General Lee good-bye, I alone 
remaining in the stage. He met them and invited them 
in. He chatted with them awhile, then, on learning 
that I was in the stage, he came out and spent the 
remainder of the time with me. Boy-like, I was very 
proud of this. 

General Lee came to Washington College at a crisis, 
both for himself and for the college. As he had been 
impoverished by the war, his property confiscated, his 
ancestral home at Arlington made a national cemetery, 
it was necessary that he seek employment. Numerous 
positions were offered him at fine salaries, simply for the 
use of his name. But he turned from all of these. He 
wanted work, not charity. In Washington College, the 
man and the opportunity met. Her halls were empty, 
her faculty scattered, her treasury empty, her equip- 
ment deficient. At this crisis General Lee came. He 
opened and repaired the buildings, gathered a faculty of 



64 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

thoroughly equipped men, and then waited for students. 
And they came, from every part of the South, and even 
from the North. Under his wise administration, Wash- 
ington College rose from the ashes of her poverty, and 
from a small denominational college grew into a splen- 
did university, the inspiration being the lofty char- 
acter of her president. While I was there a magnificent 
chapel was built, which afterwards became the "Lee 
Memorial chapel." His office was in the basement, near 
the mausoleum where he was buried. 

To the few of my schoolmates left I send greeting. I 
have pleasant recollections of George B. Peters, John 
Martin, S. R. Cockrill, Ruperto Gonzales, and others. 
I am proud of the fact that in my youth I came in touch 
with Robert E. Lee, great in war and sublime in peace. 



A COLLEGE BOY'S OBSERVATION OF 
GENERAL LEE 

By Mr. John B. Collyar, Nashville, Tenn. 

The following contribution was published in the Confederate Veteran^ 
I, 265 (1893). It is here reproduced not only because of its historical in- 
terest but because the volume of the publication in which it appeared is no 
longer accessible to the general public. — Editor. 

A FEW years after General Lee accepted the 
presidency of the then Washington College, I 
was sent to be entered in the preparatory 
department, along with an older brother who was to 
enter college. The morning after we reached Lexington 
we repaired to the office of General Lee, situated in the 
college building, for the purpose of matriculation and 
receiving instructions as to the duties devolving upon us 
as students. I entered the office with reverential awe, 
expecting to see the great warrior, whose fame then 
encircled the civilized globe, as I had pictured him in my 
own imagination. General Lee was alone, looking over 
a paper. He arose as we entered, and received us with a 
quiet, gentlemanly dignity that was so natural and easy 
and kind that the feeling of awe left me at the threshold 
of his door. General Lee had but one manner in his 
intercourse with men. It was the same to the peasant 
as to the prince, and the student was received with the 
easy courtliness that would have been bestowed on the 
greatest imperial dignitary of Europe. 



66 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

When we had registered my brother asked the Gen- 
eral for a copy of his rules. General Lee said to him, 
"Young gentleman, we have no printed rules. We 
have but one rule here, and it is that every student must 
be a gentleman." I did not, until after years, fully 
realize the comprehensiveness of his remark, and how 
completely it covered every essential rule that should 
govern the conduct and intercourse of men. I do not 
know that I could define the impression that General 
Lee left on my mind that morning, for I was so dis- 
appointed at not seeing the warrior that my imagination 
had pictured, that my mind was left in a confused state 
of inquiry as to whether he was the man whose fame had 
filled the world. He was so gentle, kind, and almost 
motherly, in his bearing, that I thought there must be 
some mistake about it. At first glance General Lee's 
countenance was stern, but the moment his eye met 
that of his entering guest it beamed with a kindness that 
at once established easy and friendly relations, but not 
familiar. The impression he made on me was, that he 
was never familiar with any man.* 

I saw General Lee every day during the session in 
chapel (for he never missed a morning service) and 
passing through the campus to and from his home to 
his office. He rarely spoke to any one — occasionally 
would say something to one of the boys as he passed, 
but never more than a word. After the first morning in 

* Dr. Reid White, son of Professor White of the Washington College 
faculty, tells me that whenever his father was asked if he was not "intimate 
with General Lee," his invariable reply was: "No, sir, no man was great 
enough to be intimate with General Lee." — Editor. 



A COLLEGE BOY'S OBSERVATION OF GENERAL LEE 67 

his office he never spoke to me but once. He stopped me 
one morning as I was passing his front gate and asked 
howl was getting on with my studies. I replied to his 
inquiry, and that was the end of the conversation. He 
seemed to avoid contact with men, and the impression 
which he made on me, seeing him every day, and which 
has since clung to me, strengthening the impression 
then made, was, that he was bowed down with a broken 
heart. I never saw a sadder expression than General 
Lee carried during the entire time I was there. It 
looked as if the sorrow of a whole aation had been 
collected in his countenance, and as if he was bearing 
the grief of his whole people. It never left his face, but 
was ever there to keep company with the kindly smile. 
He impressed me as being the most modest man I 
ever saw in his contact with men. History records how 
modestly he wore his honors, but I refer to the char- 
acteristic in another sense. I dare say no man ever 
offered to relate a story of questionable delicacy in his 
presence. His very bearing and presence produced an 
atmosphere of purity that would have repelled the 
attempt. As for any thing like publicity, notoriety or 
display, it was absolutely painful to him. Colonel Ruff, 
the old gentleman with whom I boarded, told me an 
anecdote about him that I think worth preserving. 
General Lee brought with him to Lexington the old 
iron-gray horse that he rode during the war. A few 
days after he had been there he road up Main street on 
his old war horse, and as he passed up the street the 
citizens cheered him. After passing the ordeal he 



68 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

hurried back to his home near the college. . . . He 
was incapable of affectation. The demonstration was 
simply offensive to his innate modesty, and doubtless 
awakened the memories of the past that seemed to 
weigh continually on his heart. The old iron-gray 
horse was the privileged character at General Lee's 
home. He was permitted to remain in the front yard 
where the grass was greenest and freshest, notwith- 
standing the flowers and shrubbery. General Lee was 
more demonstrative toward that old companion in 
battle than seemed to be in his nature in his intercourse 
with men. I have often seen him, as he would enter his 
front gate, leave the walk, approach the old horse, and 
caress him for a minute or two before entering his front 
door, as though they bore a common grief in their 
memory of the past.* 

* Mr. Senseney, the village blacksmith, who died in Lexington in Dec, 
1915, told the editor of this volume that General Lee always took Traveller 
to the shop to be shod, never trusting him to the care of a servant while 
undergoing this ordeal. As the faithful old war horse was spirited and ner- 
vous, the General always stood by his side while he was being shod, talking 
to him and enjoining patience on the part of the blacksmith. On these occa- 
sions the General would say: "Have patience with Traveller; he was made 
nervous by the bursting of bombs around him during the war." — Editor. 



AN INCIDENT IN THE LIFE OF GENERAL 

R. E. LEE 

By J. W. EwiNG, Rome, Georgia 

A NY incident connected with the life of the great 

/-% Lee will, I apprehend, be of interest to your 
readers. The writer, in his young manhood, in 
company with many others was a student at Washing- 
ton College, Lexington, Virginia, now known the world 
over as Washington and Lee University. 

The great soldier, after the close of the Civil War, had 
accepted the presidency of this college, and his name 
had brought from all parts of the South a great number 
of the youths, — among them, eleven young Tennesseans 
from Nashville and its vicinity. Jno. M. Graham, the 
father of our John and Sam, was one of these. We had 
reached Lexington some three weeks before the opening 
of the term and to amuse ourselves determined to go 
over to the Rockbridge Baths, a famous resort in that 
day, under the management of Major Harman. 

While we were stopping at a spring on the side of the 
road to drink and rest, who should ride up but General 
Lee on old "Traveller." He stopped and asked for a 
drink. We introduced ourselves and handed him the 
letters of introduction we had brought from home, 
written by General Ewell and other of his former 
officers. These he read without dismounting, asked 



70 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

where we were going and upon being told, took from his 
pocket an envelope and resting it on the pummel of his 
saddle, wrote this to Major Harman: "My Dear Major. 
These are some of my new boys. Please take care of 
them. Yours, etc. R. E. Lee." Armed with this, it's 
safe to say that nothing was too good for us during our 
stay at the Baths, and when we were leaving and wanted 
to pay our hotel bill, we were informed by the 
clerk that Major Harman had told him we owed 
nothing. 

After the term opened and winter had set in, Graham, 
Allison, Cockrill and I rented a private room in the 
college buildings where we could study and keep warm 
between recitations. We would each in turn buy a load 
of wood, as needed. This was sawed into stove lengths 
and piled up in the corner of the room. The winter was 
a bitter one, with snow on the ground for eleven weeks 
successively. It had been Graham's turn to buy a cord 
of hickory. This was disappearing faster than ever. So 
fast, in fact, that all realized our stove was not the only 
one that was being fed. The college wood pile was 
nearly 200 feet from the building and the janitor lazy, 
and Graham had his suspicion. He selected a round 
hickory stick, bored into it with a big auger, filled the 
hole with powder and sealed it with clay. This was put 
back on the wood pile by Graham, who warned us 
under no circumstances to put that particular stick in 
our stove. The next morning early there was a tre- 
mendous explosion in the room of the professor of 
modern languages, Dr. Edward S. Joynes. His stove 



AN INCIDENT IN THE LIFE OF LEE 71 

was blown to pieces and the college building set on fire. 
Of course, it created something of a sensation.* 

Before the services in chapel, General Lee prefaced 
his remarks with the statement that the faculty had 
promulgated no rules for student government, that each 
and every one was presumed to be a gentleman and that 
by tacit agreement the control of the students was left 
to the student body and the individual sense of honor 
of each student. He then said he would be glad to 
have any one who knew about the explosion call at his 
office during the forenoon. Graham knew, or felt, that 
it was his "depth charge" that had done the work, so at 
his request, about 1 1 A. M. he and I together went to 
the General's office. 

Lord Wolseley, the commander of the English armies, 
was in Lexington, where he had come to pay his respects 
to our General. Seeing that the General was engaged, 
we were about to leave when we were called back and 
asked to take seats in the adjoining room, where we 
could hear everything that was said. I remember the 
Englishman asked General Lee whom he thought the 
greatest military genius developed by the war, to which 
General Lee answered without hesitation "General 
N. B. Forrest, of Tennessee, whom I have never met. 

* The following interesting corroborative statement is taken from the MS. 
Diary of Dr. M. W. Humphreys: "Tuesday, Dec. 4, (1866) . . . Joynes 
had an explosion in his room which he regarded as a malicious attempt at a 
great crime and made fuss in proportion; but it turns out that a Mr. Graham 
plugged some wood with powder for some person who was stealing it occa- 
sionally, and the negroes stole the piece and put it in Joynes' fire-place — 
a good sell for Joynes." — Editor. 



72 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

He accomplished more with fewer troops than any 
other officer on either side." 

When Lord Wolseley took his departure we were 
called in. Graham at once said: "I heard, General, 
what you said this morning before chapel." He then 
told about his missing wood and the course he had pur- 
sued to find out who was stealing it, winding up his 
remarks, "But, General, I didn't know that it was 
Prof. Joynes." 

This was one of the very few times I've seen the 
General laugh. To close the incident he said, "Well, 
Mr. Graham, your plan to find out who was taking 
your wood was a good one, but your powder charge was 
too heavy. The next time use less powder." 

General Lee frequently had students whom he knew 
at his home to tea. His family made no false preten- 
sions, but lived simply. The town of Lexington in my 
day was a kind of Mecca where the world came to pay 
tribute of love and respect to the living Lee and the 
dead Jackson. This little town in the Virginia moun- 
tains is now the resting place of both. 

In common with the great body of the youths of the 
South my reverence for him was a matter of inheritance. 
We revered his name little short of worship, and three 
years of association with him increased rather than 
diminished this feeling. He was one of a very few men 
I have known who impressed me as being GREAT. I 
know of no other word that expresses the idea I wish 
to convey. 

I was particularly fortunate in having been armed 



AN INCIDENT IN THE LIFE OF LEE 73 

with a letter of introduction from General Ewell, who 
had married a Nashville lady, and whose son, Major 
Campbell Brown, was a particular friend of the Gen- 
eral's daughter. Miss Mildred. This gave me an ac- 
quaintance with the family that made it very pleasant 
to a boy away from home, and I have always felt 
honored in having had this good fortune. This ac- 
quaintance was of course not intimate, but gave me an 
insight into a circle, that was as charming as it was 
simple and unpretentious. General Lee was not a man 
who carried his heart upon his sleeve, yet he had the 
happy faculty of making those around him at ease dur- 
ing his hours of relaxation. 

I think I can safely say, without fear of contradiction, 
that he was both beloved and revered by the faculty, 
the citizens of the town, and the entire student body. 

Probably he was more on terms of intimacy with the 
Rector of Grace Church, who had been, as I now re- 
member, the head of the Artillery Branch of the Army 
of Northern Virginia, than with any one else. They were 
often seen together, walking or riding. The General 
was a most regular communicant at his church, which 
was then located near a corner of the college campus. 

I never heard of any code of laws or discipline for the 
student body. All knew they were regarded as gentle- 
men, and this feeling acted upon the students and in its 
results must have been gratifying to him. 

All felt an interest in old "Traveller." If there was 
ever any unbending it was towards this old horse. They 
were friends, and it was very pretty to see them to- 



74 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

gether. Old Traveller was always at home in the front 
yard, and acted like a sentinel on guard. One could 
almost say that the toss of his head, whenever the 
General appeared, was both a military salute and an 
expression of love and admiration for his great master. 
Certain it is there was love on both sides. 

In this I do not pretend to give you an analysis of one 
of the great characters of history, but simply the 
impressions made upon one of the many youths of the 
South, who felt and still feel a proprietary interest in his 
greatness and immortality. 



RECOLLECTIONS OF GENERAL ROBERT E. 
LEE'S ADMINISTRATION AS PRESIDENT OF 
WASHINGTON COLLEGE, VIRGINIA 

By I Edward Clifford Gordon, St. Louis, Missouri 

The Recollections herewith given were, for the most part, reduced to writ- 
ing soon after the author's ofiBcial connection with General Lee and Washing- 
ton College ceased. Subsequently they were enlarged and delivered as a 
lecture in Missouri. For the publication of them, now authorized by the 
board of trustees of Washington and Lee University, they have been revised, 
and a few interesting incidents and anecdotes omitted, because it is beUeved 
that General Lee himself, if he could be consulted, would so advise on ac- 
count of his respect for the wishes of others. 

SOME years before the Confederate war. South- 
ern Episcopalians projected what at that time 
was the most comprehensive educational scheme 
which had been proposed by any church in this 
country. General Winfield Scott was asked if he 
knew of a suitable man to be placed at the head of the 
enterprise. He replied: "Yes, I know a man who 
would suit, but you cannot get him because the army 
needs him. He is Colonel Robert E. Lee of Virginia." 

It is probable that General Lee's election to the 
presidency of Washington College may be traced to a 
remark made by his eldest daughter in Staunton, Vir- 
ginia, in the early summer of 1865, in the presence of 
Colonel Bolivar Christian, who was a member of the 
board of trustees of the college. Miss Lee said: "The 



76 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

people of the South are offering my father everything 
but work; and work is the only thing he will accept at 
their hands." So far as I can learn, Miss Lee, at that 
time, was not aware of Colonel Christian's connection 
with the college; and her remark was not made with any 
reference to the vacant presidency; but it was made a 
short time before a meeting of the trustees, and sug- 
gested to Colonel Christian the idea of securing General 
Lee for that position. The trustees once seized of the 
idea did not rest until it was realized. Judge Brocken- 
brough, then rector of the board, was sent to inform 
General Lee of his election; and, after full consideration, 
he accepted the position. In October, 1865, the new 
president rode quietly into Lexington on his favorite 
horse, Traveller, took the oath of office and entered 
upon the discharge of his duties. 

The hopes of the trustees were soon realized. Money 
was given to refit the college buildings and grounds. 
Students came from all parts of the South. The faculty 
was increased; extensive additions were made to the 
courses of study, to the apparatus and the library; and 
much needed improvements to the campus were begun 
and carried on according to a well-considered plan. 

During two years of General Lee's administration I 
served the college as proctor, secretary to the faculty 
and librarian; and one year as treasurer. I was also a 
sort of secretary to the president, helping him with his 
mail and otherwise in routine matters as he might 
direct. But I must add that General Lee answered 
most of his letters with his own hand, and that my 



RECOLLECTIONS OF LEE'S ADMINISTRATION ^^ 

duties as secretary were confined chiefly to copying 
letters in an old-fashioned letter-press book. Still I was 
brought into daily intercourse with the president. I had 
many, and at times unusual, opportunities of observing 
him under various aspects and conditions, and of com- 
paring him with other men, some of whom were dis- 
tinguished for their abilities and learning. I heard him 
express his opinion on a great variety of subjects. I 
saw him in his home, in the privacy of his office, at the 
meetings of the faculty, in his intercourse with the 
students, on the commencement platform. After two 
years of official relationship which was cordial and 
pleasant from the beginning to the end, I left the 
college to pursue my professional studies with the con- 
viction that in all the elements of true greatness General 
Lee was far in advance of any man I had ever known. I 
have known many great and good men since; but I 
have had no good reason to modify the judgment I 
then formed. If extensive knowledge, if far-seeing 
wisdom, if a wondrous self-control, if ability to manage 
great enterprises and to master minute details, if the 
spirit of meekness and of self-sacrifice, if simplicity in 
thought and speech, if courtesy and an exquisite sense 
of honor, if ability to estimate other men and to mold 
them to his will, are elements of greatness, then General 
Lee was, and is, my beau-ideal of the highest type of 
Christian gentleman. I may add that this is the esti- 
mate formed of him by all who were so fortunate as to 
know him intimately. 
Just here it may be worth while to correct some 



78 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

popular errors in regard to him. First as to his size and 
personal appearace. He was strikingly handsome, but 
not a very large man. I have read accounts of him 
which described him as being over six feet high and 
weighing over two hundred pounds. He stood five feet 
and eleven inches in his cavalry boots. His maximum 
weight was one hundred and seventy pounds. He 
carried himself very erect; had broad shoulders and 
narrow hips. His neck was short and very thick, form- 
ing a fit support for a massive head. His arms were 
long, his hands large and his feet small. These features 
gave him the appearance when on horseback or seated at 
a table of being a very large man. The same impression 
is made by half-length photographs of him; whereas, 
among men of the Scotch-Irish race in the Valley of 
Virginia where I knew him, he was constantly over- 
topped by men taller and heavier than himself. His 
clothes were always well fitting and extremely neat. He 
did not use tobacco in any form, nor partake of intoxi- 
cating liquors, except an occasional glass of wine. He 
never used slang nor told a joke which his wife and 
daughters might not have listened to with perfect 
propriety. 

It is also supposed by many that General Lee was a 
man of an easy temper, naturally calm, mild and gentle, 
with no special propensity to violent expression. This 
was not the case. He had unquestionably great deli- 
cacy and tenderness of feeling, constantly manifested in 
his regard for animals, his love for children, his con- 
sideration for the distressed. But these characteristics 



RECOLLECTIONS OF LEE'S ADMINISTRATION 79 

were combined with what I may call a fierce and violent 
temper, prone to intense expression. When I knew him 
he had almost perfect control of this temper; but in the 
Confederate Army it was an open secret that, when he 
was organizing Virginia's forces at the beginning of the 
war, he was regarded by the militia and other colonels 
who brought their regiments to Richmond as a sort of 
" bear," that when aroused should be avoided by wise 
people. It is also certain that he was fond of war. He 
deliberately chose the career of a soldier. In this 
respect he was a true son of his race. He plunged with 
ardor into the Mexican war. When the Federal hosts 
were driven back from the heights of Fredricksburg, an 
officer said to him: "Isn't it splendid?" He repHed: 
"Yes; but it is well war is so terrible, or we would 
become too fond of it." 

There was one peculiarity of his temper which I, as 
well as others, had occasion to observe. It constituted 
about the only foible in his character which I could 
detect. When annoyed by visitors or others he gen- 
erally managed to allow the culprits to escape without 
displaying his annoyance in any way. But the next 
comer, unless he was unusually wary, was apt to catch 
the fire. I once suffered vicariously in this way. It was 
near the close of the college session; and he, like the rest 
of us in office, was very busy. Some committee waited 
on him soon after he entered his office in the morning; 
and, after transacting their business, continued to sit 
and talk with him. About dinner time they went away 
and with them went the last drop of the president's 



8o GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

patience. I was ignorant of the precise situation, but 
also rejoiced at their departure because I desired to ask 
a favor of the president. The letter-book into which 
were copied the reports and letters of his office and 
mine was at his residence for his use at night in the 
preparation of his annual report to the board of trustees 
of the college. I needed a bit of information from that 
book; and as General Lee was the kindest man in the 
world, I did not hesitate to ask him to make a memo- 
randum from it for me. But I made my request at an 
inauspicious time. He said to me very sharply: "I do 
not want the book; you can come and get it whenever 
you like." I at once discerned that, to use our college 
slang, he had been "sat upon" by that committee, and 
I hastily beat a retreat. The next morning when I 
entered his office he said in his kindest manner: "Mr. 
Gordon, here is that memorandum you asked me to 
make for you." 

It is well known that General Lee was distinguished 
for mental and moral courage of the highest order. 
This was conspicuously displayed in more than one 
great crisis of his life. It is not so well known that he 
also had what we call "nerve," or physical courage, 
which never failed him. This was signally displayed in 
his personal scouting adventures in the Mexican war; 
and also to his staff when he passed from safe to very 
dangerous positions in the terrific battles of the Confed- 
erate war. One of these staff officers told me he could 
never discover by any word, gesture or change of 
countenance on the part of General Lee that he had any 



RECOLLECTIONS OF LEE'S ADMINISTRATION 8i 

consciousness of personal danger. While president of 
the college he had a somewhat singular adventure which 
signally displayed his "nerve." Colonel Ross had a fine 
farm near Lexington and the General used to ride out to 
this farm and talk "farming" with his friend. The 
times were unsettled and Colonel Ross had a pack of 
rather vicious dogs to protect his property from petty 
thieves. These dogs were usually confined during the 
day, and turned out at night. One afternoon the 
Colonel seated in his hall heard these dogs barking in 
his front yard. Knowing that they had no business 
there, he hurried out and saw this scene: General Lee 
had ridden up on Traveller, dismounted, entered the 
gate, and was standing with his back to the gate, con- 
fronted by several dogs, the largest and fiercest of 
which stood on his hind feet with his front feet on the 
General's shoulders, and their noses not six inches apart. 
The General stood like a statue calmly looking into 
the dog's eyes. Colonel Ross called and beat off the 
dogs, and apologized for their attack. He told me that 
General Lee was entirely unrufiled. He playfully 
chided him for not keeping his dogs tied up in the 
daytime. There was no change in his countenance; 
and, in the opinion of his host, his pulse had not quick- 
ened one beat a minute. 

This remarkable "nerve" was also highly expressed, 
in my opinion, very often during the commencement 
exercises. In those days every orator, graduates and 
visitors, felt called upon to refer to our President, his 
career, character and reputation. The adulations at 



82 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

times were not in good taste, and I used to wonder why 
he did not issue a general order prohibiting all public 
references to himself. Self-protection is said to be the 
first law of nature. He issued no such order; and no one 
could tell at the time of utterance that he heard the 
references to himself. He neither smiled nor frowned. 
His face was as impassive as the Sphinx. Apparently 
the orators might have been commenting on the man in 
the moon. But he did hear; and privately admonished 
the young orators that their speeches were too long; 
that their references to himself were distasteful to him; 
that their reflections on the "Yankees" would provoke 
ill-feeling and might injure the college; that their 
compliments to the ladies had better be said in private. 

His intellectual powers were as remarkable as his 
"nerve." His observation was keen, minute and 
accurate. His memory was marvelously retentive, and 
his stores of knowledge correspondingly great and at his 
instant command. He could look at a mass of 
mortar and at once detect whether it had too much or 
too little sand or lime in it. If a step-stone was half an 
inch out of line he noticed it. He remembered every 
child in Lexington whose name he had heard and whose 
face he had seen. It seemed to me he knew all the cows 
in Lexington; for he used to say to me, when he saw 
cows grazing on the yet unfenced lawn of the college, " I 

wish Mr. , and " (others whom he would name), 

"would keep their cows at home." He soon came to 
know all the students by name and face, their class 
standing and general reputation. 



RECOLLECTIONS OF LEE'S ADMINISTRATION 83 

But his mind was not burdened with details. His 
plans for the extension of the college were comprehen- 
sive and far reaching. All the resources of his opulent 
knowledge, of his varied experience, of his practical 
good sense, as well as his incessant industry, were 
fully used for the advancement of the institution. His 
wisdom, his ability to adapt means to ends, was unsur- 
passed. I have known men who knew more Latin, 
Greek, mathematics and philosophy than he did; but I 
never knew any one who knew men as well as he did. 
There was something uncanny about his ability to read 
other men's thoughts. Others as well as myself ob- 
served this remarkable characteristic, as did his oppo- 
nents in war. It was a common saying in Lexington: 
"It is no use trying to throw dust into Marse Robert's 
eyes." <y 

One proof of his wisdom was his unwillingness to 
express his opinion on a subject which he had not care- 
fully considered. On subjects which he had considered 
he was the most dogmatic of men. But not infre- 
quently at the meetings of the faculty he would say: 
"Gentlemen, this is a new question to me; I cannot 
venture an opinion. I prefer to hear what Dr. K. or 
Col. A. or Professor M. has to say about it." In every 
case he would name the man who ought to have been, 
and who generally was, most familiar with, and best 
informed on, the subject under discussion. The same 
unerring judgment enabled him to use members of the 
faculty in dealing with the students. He soon came to 
know which professor had most influence with any 



84 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

particular student or set of students, and the leaders 
among the students themselves. 

Here it may be said that the rigor of military disci- 
pline was utterly abandoned as impracticable in such an 
institution as Washington College; and the principles 
of truth, honor, courtesy were mainly relied on to 
maintain good order. There was no attempt at com- 
promise between two systems of discipline wholly 
incompatible with each other. At the same time both 
faculty and students soon learned that a master sat in 
the president's office. When the students circulated a 
petition for a week's holiday at Christmas, instead of 
one day, which had been ordered; and when this petition 
had been denied and another circulated pledging the 
signers not to attend lectures during the Christmas 
week, and when some members of the faculty were 
disposed to yield to the students' demand, the president 
announced that any student whose name appeared on 
that paper would be sent home; and that if every 
student signed it, the college would be closed and the 
key to the door placed in his pocket. There is a tradi- 
tion that lectures during that Christmas week were 
well attended. 

On one occasion an orator of the radical stripe pro- 
posed to address a political meeting which would be 
attended mostly by negroes. A rumor got abroad 
that the orator proposed to make invidious reflections 
on General Lee, and some of the students swore that 
they would break up the meeting. The president 
somehow was informed as to the situation. Just before 



RECOLLECTIONS OF LEE'S ADMINISTRATION 85 

the dinner hour on the day of the meeting he placed in 
my hands the names of a dozen or more students with 
directions to see them all as soon as practicable and 
instruct them to report to him at his office promptly at 
3:30 that afternoon. It was a motley array of names. 
Some of the men had been Confederate soldiers; some 
were leaders in college religious work; some were fore- 
most in college sports and pranks. All, for various 
reasons, were surprised at the summons, but they all 
reported, received their instructions, and not a student 
attended that meeting, which passed off as orderly as a 
funeral service. 

I have the original manuscript, written with his own 
hand of a sort of general order or appeal addressed to 
the students who were contemplating an April-fool 
celebration. It reads as follows: 

"The faculty have learned with regret that some of the 
students are making preparations to organize a tumul- 
tuous and disorderly procession though the streets of 
Lexington on the eve of the first of April. Similar 
processions have heretofore occasionally occurred and 
have always resulted in greatly disturbing the good 
order and quiet of the town; in alarming and disturbing 
the sick; in the wanton destruction of property; and in 
endangering human life. Those who have participated 
in or witnessed these disturbances are asked to consider 
whether such proceedings have in any way tended to 
elevate the character of those concerned in them, to 
promote the welfare of the community, or to give real 
pleasure or satisfaction to the actors themselves. When 



86 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

Students of a college engage in such disorders, it injures 
them in the eyes of the world, sullies the reputation of 
their Alma Mater, and tends to diminish its efficiency 
and usefulness. Such conduct can only proceed from 
thoughtlessness and want of reflection, and the Presi- 
dent earnestly appeals to all the students of Washington 
College to avoid such assemblies both as actors and as 
witnesses; and he calls upon those whose character and 
standing justly entitle them to the confidence and es- 
teem of their comrades to point out to them the evil 
they unintentionally commit against their college and 
the citizens of a town who are always ready to promote 
their pleasure and to administer to their comfort and 
relief. 

"He trusts, therefore, that the students will unite 
now and at all times to preserve good order and quiet in 
the community in which they dwell, to protect the 
property of the citizens, and to maintain the fair repu- 
tation of Washington College." 

By such means as these our President maintained 
order and discipline. Occasionally there were pranks 
and "callithumps." Among four hundred students 
some were weak and some were wicked. These had to 
be admonished or suspended; and some, now and then, 
had to be sent home. This last phrase was the Presi- 
dent's word for expulsion. But these affairs were only 
ripples on the even flow of college life. There was no 
espionage; little or no cheating at recitations and exam- 
inations. If a man were caught cheating, his life was 
made so intolerable by the students that he was glad to 



RECOLLECTIONS OF LEE'S ADMINISTRATION 87 

go home. I can recall but one such case; in that one 
the guilt of the student was doubtful in the mind of the 
professor whose testimony was solicited by the class. 

General Lee's wisdom was constantly displayed in the 
management of his personal and domestic affairs. His 
household was one of the best ordered I ever knew. He 
was what the Virginia farmers called "forehanded" 
both as to plans and expenditures. In a letter to me in 
1868, after giving some directions about college work, he 
wrote: "Should you see Mr. Womeldorf, ask him if he 
can furnish me with thirty cords of hickory as he did 
last year." He had a great fondness for seasoned hick- 
ory wood and would burn no other when he could get 
it. Subsequently he wrote me: " I am sorry Mr. Womel- 
dorf cannot supply me with wood. I prefer hickory to 
oak, and there was a gentleman whose name I cannot 
recall that supplied Mr. Campbell and myself with 
some year before last. If he or any one can furnish 
me with 30 cords of seasoned wood at a fair price, please 
engage it for me. If you cannot engage hickory engage 
some oak. I prefer red to white oak." 

In these and other ways he sought to provide for 
every emergency. In order to protect the students 
from excess charges for wood (it was before the days of 
railroads and coal in Lexington), he had a woody ard, 
protected by a high fence, set off and filled with wood 
bought at a moderate price in the summer or early fall 
when the county roads were in good order. This wood 
was sawed up and sold to the students at actual cost. 

Here I may mention his keen sense of the fit, the be- 



88 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

coming, the beautiful. This sense was manifested in 
many ways: in his clothes, his personal neatness, his 
dealings with other men; in his ideas respecting build- 
ings and grounds. Most of the trees which now adorn 
the front campus were planted under his direction. I 
once asked him about the arrangement of these trees. 
He said: "Not in rows: Nature never plants trees in 
rows. As far as possible imitate Nature." He himself 
selected many of the spots where trees were planted. 
Similarly as to colors. We had to build a fence along 
the front campus on the south side. It was and is now 
one of the most conspicuous parts of the college grounds; 
but, because of the scarcity of money, it had to be a 
plain board fence. I consulted him about the color to 
be used in painting the fence. He said: "A fence is a 
blot on any lawn. We must have a fence; but select a 
color which will render the fence as inconspicuous as 
possible: one that will harmonize with the surrounding 
colors." 

It is well known that General Lee's experience as an 
engineer and as superintendent of the West Point 
Military Academy, fitted him to discharge his adminis- 
trative duties as president of the college to which he 
devoted himself. He taught no class, but personally 
overlooked everything that went on: work on the 
buildings and grounds; in the class rooms; at the exami- 
nations, as well as to the matters of personal and general 
discipline. He himself "toed the mark," and he in- 
sisted that everybody else should do so. This remark 
suggests some observations as to his moral qualities: his 



RECOLLECTIONS OF LEE'S ADMINISTRATION 89 

sense of duty, the carefulness with which he responded 
to its call; his conscientiousness and his courtesy in 
his dealings with others. 

I shall never forget my first interview with him. 
After accepting the position offered me by the college 
authorities and winding up the business in which I had 
been engaged, I reported to General Lee in his office. 
Somehow I got the notion that he was surprised at my 
youthful appearance, for I was little more than a beard- 
less boy. But he had taken me on the representation of 
men who knew and trusted me and whom he knew and 
trusted, so he made no comments on my appearance, 
and proceeded at once to explain to me niy duties 
especially as proctor. He then said: "The first thing 
for you to do is to see Mr. Shields who is now in charge 
of the property of the college used in repairing the 
buildings and improving the grounds. Get from him a 
complete list of all the property in his hands, verify it, 
then give him a receipt for it, after which you will be 
responsible for it." I left him somewhat oppressed with 
a sense of the responsibilities I had assumed and deter- 
mined to "make good" if it were possible for me to do 
so. 

Soon we began to lay off the roads and walks on the 
front campus the lines of which are now about the same 
as those marked out by General Lee himself. In "set- 
ting" the broken stones on these walks I needed a maul. 
It was before the days of steam rollers. In grading the 
campus, several large locust trees had been taken up by 
the roots. I directed two of the workmen to saw off the 



90 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX • 

butt end of one of these trees, trim it up into the shape of 
a maul, and have its base rimmed with a heavy band of 
iron. In a day or two the maul was at work. General 
Lee observed it and said to me! "Mr. Gordon that is a 
very good maul, where did you get it?" I told him, and 
he immediately exclaimed: "What! Cut up one of those 
locust trees to get a maul! I intended that tree for a 
gate post. You might have got a maul from New York, 
or imported one from Liverpool at less cost." That was 
all and enough. I learned a lesson which I have never 
forgot, and which I have endeavored ever since to 
practice. I might waste my own property if I chose to 
do so; but the college property and other property with 
which I was charged was not mine, and I was responsible 
for its best practicable use down to the smallest par- 
ticular. 

Another incident will illustrate his uniform courtesy 
and regard for the rights and feelings of others even in 
small matters. When the time came to pay for those 
thirty cords of hickory wood which I had secured for 
him, he had me go with the man who had furnished it to 
the pile in the back yard of his house and measure it 
carefully, and then make the needed calculation as to 
the amount of money due for it. Not for a moment did 
he propose that his own estimate was to be taken as a 
matter of course. 

In his home he was the most courteous of hosts. I 
had many occasions to observe this; and on one of these 
I was particularly impressed. My father came to 
Lexington on some church business and to see me; and. 



RECOLLECTIONS OF LEE'S ADMINISTRATION 91 

I have no doubt, to see General Lee. He was old and 
very deaf, and I tried to persuade him to give up his 
visit to the president's house. But he insisted and I 
arranged his visit. It so happened on that evening that 
there was a number of other guests. All the members of 
the family were engaged, and so General Lee himself 
undertook to entertain my father. He drew him to one 
side, sat close to him and did his best to make himself 
agreeable. Here I may tell of his plan to dismiss his 
guests when they were disposed to stay too late, as not 
infrequently was the case. I have known professors to 
ring a bell at ten o'clock in order to indicate to guests 
that the hour for their departure had arrived; and, on 
one occasion, I learned that a distinguished colleague 
was in this way invited to leave. General Lee did not 
pursue this plan. Two rooms in his home were devoted 
in the evenings to the entertainment of guests. These 
rooms opened to each other. In one, the dining room, 
Mrs. Lee and the General usually sat after supper, while 
the front room was occupied by the younger people. It 
was understood that every visitor would spend at least 
a few minutes with the heads of the family, whoever 
might be the person he or she came particularly to visit. 
When ten o'clock came, if the guests seemed indisposed 
to leave, the General would come into the front room, 
sit down by the side of a man who was enjoying a 
tete-a-tete with one of the young ladies. In a moment or 
two she would join Mrs. Lee in the dining room. The 
young man had not come for the purpose of monopo- 
lizing the General, and so found it convenient to make 



92 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

his bow and depart. The General, then proceeded to 
employ the same plan with another man until it was 
evident to all that the president thought it was time 
for sensible people to go to bed. I may add that some 
plan to dismiss guests in a polite fashion was imperative, 
because the hour for the family breakfast was fixed 
unalterably by college duties. 

General Lee had great natural benevolence and 
tenderness of feeling. This was expressed in many 
ways. His salary was a moderate one; prices were high; 
the calls on the hospitality of his family were incessant. 
Yet he avoided debt and his gifts to the poor and the 
church were large. His last official act was an added 
gift to make up a deficiency in his pastor's salary. He 
himself declined gifts except from his near kinsfolk and 
his most intimate friends. In 1866 he wrote to a Balti- 
more firm: "I am much obliged to you for your kind 
offer to send me a hat, and I appreciate most highly the 
motives which prompted it. When so many are desti- 
tute, I dislike to have more than I actually require, and 
yet am unwilling to appear insensible to your sentiments 
of friendship and sympathy. I have a very good hat, 
which will answer my purpose the whole year, and I 
would, therefore, prefer that you would give to others 
what I really do not require." I know that he often 
wrote similar letters. "Give," he would write, "to the 
Confederate soldiers; or, if you wish, to the college. As 
for myself, I have enough and am content." 

His tenderness of feeling was expressed towards 
animals. He was very fond of horses and of Traveller. 



RECOLLECTIONS OF LEE'S ADMINISTRATION 93 

In a letter to me, dated Aug. 3rd, 1868, he wrote: "How 
is Traveller? Tell him I miss him dreadfully and have 
repented of our separation but once and that is the 
whole time since we parted." Later he wrote me: "I 
hope Traveller is well and wants for nothing. I want 
him more than ever now that I shall be alone." * 

Here I may mention his keen sense of humor. This 
enabled him to contribute to the enjoyment of his 
family and friends; and mildly, though keenly, to ad- 
minister rebuke. To illustrate: In 1867 he wrote to an 
absent daughter: "I must leave to your sisters a de- 
scription of all the gayeties and also an account of the 
* Reading Club.' As far as I can judge it is a great 
institution for the discussion of apples and chestnuts, 
but is quite innocent of the pleasures of literature. Our 
feline companions are flourishing. Young Baxter is 
growing in gracefulness and favor, and gives cat-like 
evidence of future worth. He indulges in the fashion- 

* Mrs. S. P. Lee tells the following beautiful story: 

"One afternoon in July . . . the General rode down to the canal-boat 
landing to put on board a young lady who had been visiting his daughters 
and was returning home. He dismounted, tied Traveller to a post, and 
was standing on the boat making his adieux, when some one called out that 
Traveller was loose. Sure enough, the gallant gray was making his way 
up the road, increasing his speed as a number of boys and men tried to 
stop him. My father immediately stepped ashore, called to the crowd to 
stand still, and advancing a few steps gave a peculiar low whistle. At the 
first sound. Traveller stopped and pricked up his ears. The General whistled 
a second time, and the horse with a glad whinny turned and trotted quietly 
back to his master, who patted and coaxed him before tying him up again. 
To a bystander expressing surprise at the creature's docility the General 
observed that he did not see how any man could ride a horse for any length 
of time without a perfect understanding being established between them." — 
Editor. 



94 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

able color of moon-light-on-the-lake, apparently a dingy 
hue of the kitchen, and is strictly aristocratic in appear- 
ance and conduct. Tom, surnamed The Ripper, from 
the manner which he slaughters our enemies the rats 
and mice, is admired for his gravity and sobriety, as 
well as^his strict attention to the pursuits of his race. 
They both feel your absence sorely. Traveller and Cus- 
tis are both well, and pursue their usual dignified gaits 
and habits, not led away by the frivolous entertain- 
ments of lectures and concerts." 

In a letter to me from the White Sulphur Springs in 
the summer of 1868, he wrote: "Tell Misses M. and N. 
that I am greatly alarmed about their sister E. There 
is a young Presbyterian clergyman just arrived, who has 
taken a seat by her at table. He may do so at other 
times too, and she would not tell me." I could give at 
second hand some illustrations of his use of humor to 
administer rebuke; but, as a negro preacher once said to 
his master, who desired him to preach to his fellow serv- 
ants on the Eighth Commandment, I cannot do it 
because it "might throw a coldness" on some who may 
read these recollections. 

I pass on to record his high regard for what was just, 
right and honorable. This, as is well known, was 
manifested in the highest degree when in 1861 he cast 
in his lot with Virginia and the South. He could not 
have foreseen the world-wide reputation he would 
achieve as a soldier. He could not fail to foresee the 
immense losses, financial and otherwise, which he must 
inevitably incur. He carefully looked over the whole 



RECOLLECTIONS OF LEE'S ADMINISTRATION 95 

situation and then offered himself and his sword to his 
native state, because he honestly believed she had the 
right to choose her own political associations and 
alliances. Here he was sustained by the example of his 
own heroic father and those who stood with him in the 
break between England and her American colonies. 

These same high and noble characteristics were 
constantly manifested in the conduct of his private 
business. They caused him to refuse over and over 
again the use of his name in business enterprises after 
the war when he was desirous of work which would 
enable him to provide for his family. Large sums of 
money were offered to him only for the use of his name. 
He was to have no work, no trouble, no responsibility. 
It was the absence of these things which made him de- 
cline these flattering offers. In his opinion it was dis- 
honest to lend his name and reputation for the purpose 
of inducing his friends and admirers to put their money 
into a business over which he was to have no control 
and in which he had no experience. 

This delicate sense of honor gave him a horror of 
debt. This is all the more noticeable because he was 
fond of elegance of every sort: fine houses, furniture, 
plate, clothing, ornaments, horses, equipage. But he 
could and did deny himself and his family the enjoy- 
ment of such things when he did not have the money to 
buy them. I have seen him in garments which many 
men of smaller income and far less reputation would 
have been unwilling to wear. He was not ashamed to 
eat a plain dinner plainly served with his friends. He 



96 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

impressed these ideas and habits on his family. Mrs. 
Lee's usual occupation in the dining room I have men- 
tioned during the evenings was mending her husband's 
and son's underclothing. After I became a minister, I 
met one of his daughters at a railway station. She had 
a basket of very fine pears, on the beauty of which I 
commented. "Yes," she said, "they are nice and I 
would offer you one; but I have just enough for my 
dessert to-morrow." She then laughed and said: "I 
want this inscribed on my tombstone: 

* Although on pleasure she was bent, 
She had a frugal mind/ " 

This keen sense of honesty and honor, this abiding 
consciousness of perfect rectitude of intention, were, I 
believe, one source of that calm courage which was so 
characteristic of General Lee. He was no stoic, no 
haughty patrician, looking down upon and disregarding 
the sentiments of others. He loved his fellow men. He 
desired their esteem; but, as it seemed to me, he had 
never done anything of which he was ashamed and 
which it was necessary for him to conceal; and so he 
never feared to face any man or set of men: not even 
General Grant and his imposing staff, flushed with 
victory, at Appomattox. When cross-examined at 
President Davis's preliminary trial for treason, counsel 
for the United States' Government tried to get him to 
exculpate himself by seeking to make the Confederate 
President responsible for the war and General Lee's 
conduct of it. He at once perceived the counsel's de- 



RECOLLECTIONS OF LEE'S ADMINISTRATION 97 

sign. He admitted that President Davis was the 
commander-in-chief of the Confederate army; and, of 
course, was often consulted by him and other officers. 
He then added: "I am responsible for what I did; and I 
cannot now recall any important movement I made 
which I would not have made had I acted entirely on my 
own responsibility." 

While President of Washington College General Lee 
met in Baltimore, Md., the Rev. Doctor Leyburn. 
Doctor Leyburn conveyed to him a pressing invitation 
from Mr. Cyrus H. McCormick, who had made a very 
handsome donation to the college, to visit him in New 
York. General Lee felt constrained to decline the invi- 
tation; and somehow Doctor Leyburn got the idea that 
the refusal to accept it was due to General Lee's unwil- 
lingness to incur the publicity of a visit to New York. 
He endeavored to remove this fancied objection by 
showing how all publicity could be avoided. An apart- 
ment in a Pullman car could be reserved; he would 
arrive in New York in the morning; he would be met by 
Mr. McCormick and be taken at once to his home. 
When the General understood what the Doctor meant, 
he said: "Oh, Doctor, I couldn't go sneaking into New 
York in that way. When I go there, I'll go in the day- 
time and like a man." 

The supreme test of a man's greatness is his ability to 
control other men; to draw them to himself, to secure 
their constant loyalty, to have them execute his will. 
General Lee stood this test. Unfortunately, his plans, 
committed to subordinates for execution, were not 



98 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

always executed as he wished and directed; but his 
direct influence over others was imperial. It was con- 
fined to no class and limited by no circumstances. One 
of his sons testified that when a boy he sometimes 
disobeyed his mother, but that it never occurred to him 
to disobey his father. War incidents illustrate this 
same power. It was felt in Lexington by proud citizens, 
by the students, by the faculty, by the negro man who 
waited on him. Perhaps the highest illustration of this 
power is presented in the fact that his surrender at 
Appomattox brought speedily the Confederate War to 
its close. For a brief period after that surrender the 
Confederate counsels were divided. In North Carolina, 
as President Davis and his cabinet were moving south 
from Richmond, I heard him say in a public address 
that he expected soon to be at the head of sixty thou- 
sand troops. Imagination staggers when we calmly 
consider what would have been the result of a continued 
prosecution of the war. The North went wild over the 
assassination of President Lincoln. Had the war con- 
tinued, the South would have been swept with fire and 
sword without mercy, and to the North's everlasting 
dishonor. Mr. Charles Francis Adams, in his Lee's 
Centennial Address, has testified that "from that 
crown of sorrows Lee saved the country. He was the 
one man in the Confederacy who could exercise decisive 
influence." 

These recollections of General Lee would be incom- 
plete and inaccurate should they fail to emphasize the 
Christian elements in his character. He was born. 



RECOLLECTIONS OF LEE'S ADMINISTRATION 99 

baptized and reared in the Protestant Episcopal Church 
and represented the best type of piety in that com- 
munion. After the Mexican War he was "confirmed" 
by Bishop Johns of Virginia, who said to him on that 
occasion: "If you will be as faithful as a soldier of the 
Cross as you have been of your country, when your 
warfare is over I shall covet your crown." The good 
bishop*s condition was fulfilled. As a confirmed Chris- 
tian he served God with the same unfaltering devotion 
as he had served and continued to serve his country. 
His piety was of the Cavalier type rather than that of 
the Puritan; but it was unaffected and earnest. He 
loved and honored his own church and supported it 
heartily with his money and his example. As has been 
stated, his last official act was that of a vestryman of 
Grace Church in Lexington. But he sincerely believed 
in, loved and served Jesus Christ as his Saviour and 
Lord; and he respected all who did. If there were no 
services at his own church on a Sunday, he was usually 
found at some other church. He studied the Bible and 
was a man of prayer, in the closet, at his own family 
altar, in public worship. Whoever, whether professor 
or student, was absent from the morning chapel service, 
he was always present unless unavoidably detained.* 
He respected piety and abhorred cant. On one occasion 
some one asked his opinion as to the practice of fasting 
during Lent and at other times. He spoke reverently of 

* General Lee invariably occupied, during chapel exercises, the seat next 
to the wall on the second bench from the rostrum on the north side of the 
main floor of the building. — Editor. 



lOO GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

the church's requirements of its members as to this 
practice, but added: "The best way for most of us is to 
fast from our sins and to eat what is good for us." The 
religious phase of his character may be summed up in 
three short sentences. He trusted and loved God. He 
loved his fellow men. He believed in Jesus Christ as his 
Saviour and Lord, and manifested the Christian spirit 
towards enemies as well as friends. 

Attention has been called to his self-conquest. This 
was chiefly due to Christian motive-power. Intellec- 
tually he was cast in a gigantic mold. Naturally he 
was possessed of strong passions. He loved excitement, 
especially the excitement of war. He loved grandeur. 
But all these appetites and powers were brought under 
the control of his judgment and made subservient to his 
Christian faith. This made him habitually unselfish 
and ever willing to sacrifice himself on the altar of 
duty and in the service of his fellows. If there was any- 
thing which unfitted him for the leadership of a great 
revolution it was that he lacked or suppressed that 
intense ardor, that persistent and overpowering energy 
and determination, which comes from great personal 
ambition, and which prompts men to use any means 
needed to secure success. He would not use his in- 
fluence over the army to coerce the civil government of 
the Confederate States and compel it to do what he 
thought ought to be done in order to secure its inde- 
pendent existence. He would not make a dictator of 
himself. He would not violate the modern usages of war 
in laying waste his enemy's country with fire and 



RECOLLECTIONS OF LEE'S ADMINISTRATION lOl 

sword. All this may detract from his merits as a soldier 
and a revolutionist. It immensely exalts his character 
as a Christian. He would not do what his enlightened 
conscience told him was wrong to save either himself or 
his country. 

During and after the war General Lee manifested in 
the highest degree the Christian spirit of forgiveness. 
He hated all wrong and wrongdoing with all the ardor 
of his intense and passionate nature. He regarded the 
attempt of the federal government to force Virginia 
into a war against her southern neighbors as an enor- 
mous political wickedness, to be resisted at whatever 
cost of blood and treasure. Yet he cherished no senti- 
ments of personal hate against the authors and pro- 
moters of this wickedness. A Greek poet has said: 

"The finest mind will fall 

Beneath misfortune's stroke; and, stunned, 

Depart from its sage plan of action. " 

This was not the case with General Lee. After the 
war he was indicted for treason though never tried. He 
would have been punished but for the respect General 
Grant had for his own word pledged at Appomattox. 
He asked for amnesty. It was refused. He died a 
prisoner of war, disfranchised, in a country which gave 
the right of suffrage to the negro who could neither read 
nor understand its laws, and to aliens who could not 
speak its language. Yet he did not depart from his sage 
plan of action. One day a man asked alms at his door. 
He gave him money; and, what was more, a kind word. 
As the beggar went off, he pointed to him and said: 



I02 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

"There goes one of our old soldiers. True, he fought on 
the other side, but we must not remember that against 
him now." 

Soon after the passage of some of the so-called recon- 
struction acts, so objectionable to the southern people, 
two of the college professors in General Lee's office con- 
versed with him about them. One of them expressed 
himself in very harsh and bitter terms against the domi- 
nant party in the federal government. The General 
took from his table some sheets from a manuscript 
which formed a part of the Memoirs of his father which 
he was preparing for publication, and read: 

"Learn from yon orient shell to love thy foe. 
And store with pearls the hand which brings thee woe. 
Free, like yon rock, from base vindictive pride, 
Emblase with gems the wrist that rends thy side. 
Mark where yon tree rewards the stoney shower 
With fruit nectarious or the balmy flower. 
All Nature cries aloud; shall man do less 
Than heal the smiter and the railer bless." 

He then said: "These lines are a translation from the 
pen of a Mohammedan, the immortal Hafiz. Ought 
not we, who profess to be governed by the principles of 
Christ, to rise at least to the standard of the Mohamme- 
dan poet, and learn to forgive our enemies." 

Such was Robert Edward Lee: a man great and good 
among the greatest and best of the sons of men, in every 
position and in every respect in which we regard him. 
His most intimate friends, his bitterest enemies, sought 
in vain to find any seriously weak spot in his character, 
any just ground for serious condemnation of his con- 



RECOLLECTIONS OF LEE'S ADMINISTRATION 103 

duct. He devoted his life, his matchless abilities, to 
impersonal ends: not to be served but to serve. 

"Vanquished, he was yet a victor. 

To honor virtue is to honor him. 

To reverence wisdom is to do him reverence. 

In life he was a model for all who live; 

In death he left a heritage for all. 

One such example is worth more to earth 

Than the stained triumph of ten thousand Caesars." 

On one occasion some Confederate soldiers were 
gathered about a camp fire discussing the Darwinian 
theory of evolution, which had recently been brought to 
their attention. After a variety of opinions had been 
expressed about this famous speculation, one of the 
soldiers, who had remained silent, delivered his as 
follows: 

"Well, boys, the rest of us may have been developed 
from monkeys, but I tell you only God Almighty could 
make a man like Marse Robert." 

The word was well spoken, because General Lee gave 
convincing evidence that he was a "Twice-born man." 
He is an illustrious example of those whose clear moral 
judgments no glory can obscure; whose integrity no temp- 
tation can corrupt. He is an epistle, written of God and 
designed by God to teach the people of this country that 
earthly success is not the criterion of merit, nor the 
measure of true greatness. It may be that a heart as 
bold as his led the charge of the Confederates up the 
steeps of Gettysburg; that a hand as skillful as his 
hurled the battalions of the South against the Federal 



I04 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

right wing at Chancellorsville. But when the wars of 
factions shall succeed the war of principle; when true 
lovers of freedom all over the country shall be called on 
to stand together in order to make good a common cause 
against tyranny, whether of the man or of the mob; 
then, in that hour of supreme trial, will brave and true 
men earnestly desire and fervently pray for that so- 
briety of judgment, that self-control, that perfect recti- 
tude of intention, that patriotism, that heroic spirit of 
self-sacrifice which were so splendidly combined in the 
character and conduct of Lee. 

Among the books which he left behind him is one 
which there can be no doubt his family fondly cherish. 
It is a translation of Homer's Iliad by Philip Stanhope 
Worsley, a distinguished Fellow of Corpus Christi 
College, Oxford, England. Mr. Worsley belonged to 
that large number of Englishmen, comprising some of 
the most accomplished men of that country, who 
sympathized with the Confederate States. When his 
translation of the Iliad was published he sent a copy to 
General Lee. On the fly leaves were written the follow- 
ing words, which it was my privilege to read as they 
were traced by the hand of the author, now gone, 
like General Lee himself, to that tribunal before which 
the questions at issue between the North American 
States will be settled by the All-Wise God: 

"To General R. E. Lee, the most stainless of living 
commanders, and except in fortune the greatest, this 
volume is presented, with the writer's earnest sympathy 
and respectful admiration; 



RECOLLECTIONS OF LEE'S ADMINISTRATION 105 

'Old yap ipvero "IXiov "FiKTcop 

The grand old bard that never dies, 
Receive him in our English tongue. 
I send thee, but with weeping eyes, 
The story that he sung. 

Thy Troy is fallen; thy dear land 
Is marred beneath the spoiler's heel. 
I cannot trust my trembling hand 
To write the things I feel. 

Ah! Realm of tombs! But let her bear 
This blazon to the last of times: 
No nation rose so white and fair, 
Or fell so pure of crimes. 

The widow's moan, the orphan's wail 
Come round thee, yet in truth be strong. 
Eternal right, though all else fail. 
Can never be made wrong. 

An angel's heart, an angel's mouth, 
Not Homer's, can alone for me 
Hymn well the great Confederate South 
Virginia first, and Lee. " 



BRIEF STATEMENTS BY "LEE ALUMNI " 

The following brief contributions were sent to the editor by more than 
a score of loyal alumni who were students of Washington College in the 
five-year period of General Lee's presidency. The numerous incidents and 
impressions here given bear testimony, after the lapse of half a century, to 
General Lee's ability to make on his students impressions that were indelible 
and uniformly wholesome. No greater tribute could be paid to this great 
college executive than these statements from men, now mature in years, who 
since their college days have come in contact with other great men in every 
section of our country. — Editor. 

Rev. W. Strother Jones, St. Thomas's Church, 
New York City: 

That he [General Lee] was the greatest man this 
country has produced I have no doubt; and the proud- 
est thing in my life is that I have seen, talked with and 
shaken hands with him. I do not believe he ever forgot 
a face or a name, or the locality of his seeing anyone 
and the circumstances. My roommate shook hands 
with him at a reception in Baltimore in which were 
thousands, but, later, coming to Lexington and re- 
porting to the General, the whole past was recalled 
before my roommate could say one word. 

I saw him riding Traveller the last time. I was at his 
funeral and recall that Traveller, draped in black, was 
led immediately behind his former master. I was 
among the first who had the honor of guarding his office 
and explaining to visitors his last hours there. I never 



BRIEF STATEMENTS BY "LEE ALUMNI" 107 

knew him to be absent from chapel service. On one 
occasion, I was told, that the General was noticed as 
deeply affected on coming out from prayers in the 
chapel. Some one ventured to ask, "What is the 
matter. General ? " To which he replied: ** I was think- 
ing of my responsibility to Almighty God for these 
hundreds of young men." 

In my short day at college there was a tradition that 
four young men from New Hampshire were among the 
student body when some rather forward Southerners 
"of the baser sort" attempted to ridicule them by 
publicly proclaiming them as "Yankees" and "out of 
their element" in a Southern college. This coming to 
the attention of General Lee greatly incensed him. He 
sent for all whose names he could ascertain and de- 
nounced their cowardice and gave them limited time to 
leave college. 

Mr. Mike G. Harman, Kansas City, Missouri: 
In September, 1870, Col. Wm. Allan, then professor 
of applied mathematics, my boyhood friend, accom- 
panied me to the office of General Lee and introduced 
me. General Lee turned from his desk in his swivel 
chair (which was uncommon at that day), shook hands 
with me and asked me to be seated. He inquired 
for my father. Major John A. Harman, whom he had 
specially detailed to his staff as chief quartermaster 
for the Gettysburg campaign, asked me as to my 
studies and my aims, told me that I must not let him 
lose sight of me, said "Good morning," bowed and 



lo8 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

turned to his desk. Colonel Allan, seeing my embar- 
rassment, arose and we left the office. 

I met the General at the chapel a number of times, 
always saluted and to my great delight, he always said 
" Good morning, Mr. Harman." Later I learned that he 
knew every student by name and invariably addressed 
them personally unless there were several together. 

Mrs. Lee sent for me to come to see her. When I 
called the General was at work in the back parlor and 
did not join in the conversation, but he shook hands 
with me when I left, saying " Come often to see us." 

Mrs. Lee did not have one of her favorite pictures 
when I left Washington and Lee, but said she would 
send me one, which she did with this indorsement in her 
own handwriting: "To my young friend, Mike G. Har- 
man, — Mary Custis Lee." It has been one of my proud 
possessions all these years. 

One of the pleasures of my life was that I knelt at the 
altar of Grace Church, Lexington, Virginia, on the first 
Sunday in October, 1870, with General Lee. 

Rev. Frank Bell Webb, First Presbyterian Church, 
Talladega, Alabama: 

When I was a student at Washington College, I 
would often see General Lee in conversation with the 
janitor of the grounds, and giving him instructions, 
evidently, as to his work about the lawn and grounds. 
It was remarkable to see him thus engaged, when he 
had so many other important duties to meet. I had 
the honor of being a dinner guest of his, on my return- 



BRIEF STATEMENTS BY "LEE ALUMNI" 109 

visit to Lexington, on one occasion; and I was 
impressed by the grace and ease with which he pre- 
sided as a host. He made us all feel at home, — both 
the young and older men, who were his guests. 

As far as I know, his chief recreation was horseback 
riding every afternoon; and many, many were the 
afternoons that we pedestrian students would meet him, 
as he was out for his five or six miles ride; and we all 
invariably lifted our hats to him, which he responded to 
with a smile and salute. He almost always rode "Trav- 
eller" in a sweeping walk, and sat as straight as an 
arrow in the saddle; and our boyish eyes always viewed 
him with the most intense admiration. His soldierly 
bearing and gentle spirit drew it from us. 

Mr. John Blackmar, Columbus, Georgia: 
When I left Columbus, Georgia, for college in 1868, 
General R. H. Chilton of our city (a friend of my 
father's), who was General Lee's Aide-de-Camp during 
the war gave me a letter of introduction to General 
Lee. He received me very kindly and I was fortunate 
in enjoying many social evenings in his home circle. 
Seeing the home life of the greatest man and soldier 
the world has ever known, I was much impressed by 
the gentleness and simplicity of the family, the General 
reading his books, or papers, and occasionally making 
remarks. Mrs. Lee in her roller chair coloring photo- 
graphs or doing other light work, I a boy of fifteen 
years, off to the side talking to Miss Agnes and Miss 
Mildred, made an ideal home circle I will never forget. 



no GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

General Lee had only kindness and consideration for 
the boys of the school as well as others. Only once was 
I called before him for a lecture, having "cut" recita- 
tions for one day. When asked why, I said "To go 
hunting," he said, "Why you went hunting and yester- 
day was such a pretty day, and you would kill the birds 
that enjoy the day so much. I don't think I would do so 
again." That was all of the lecture. 

When leaving for home at the end of the session, I 
called on General Lee to secure his autograph to a 
photograph of himself. Seeing with it a photograph of 
Mrs. Lee, he said "Take this to Mrs. Lee and she will 
sign it for you." 

When I called at the residence Mrs. Lee asked me in, 
and said: "Though an old woman I have some vanity 
and I do not wish my picture to go to your people 
looking that way." (The photo was taken with a light 
dress only showing the face and faint outlines of the 
dress.) "Leave it and call again before you go home." 
I asked her if she could give me something of the Gen- 
eral's as a keepsake. When I called again and received 
the picture bearing her signature I found to my delight 
that she had painted a stand at the side with a vase of 
flowers which brought out the dress, giving its outlines. 
She also gave me a lock of General Lee's hair in an 
envelope on which was written "General Lee's hair 
from Mary Custis Lee" saying, "I have been his barber 
for some time," and a brass button, saying, "this was 
from his coat, it went all through the war with him." 
One night the boys had gathered on the campus to 



BRIEF STATEMENTS BY "LEE ALUMNI" III 

initiate a new student in the "Sons of Confucius" when 
word came that our beloved president was ill. Nothing 
was done, but we all separated sadly and very soon after 
his death occurred. 

Mr. C. W. Hedger, Sweet Springs, Missouri: 
Of all men I have ever known, I think General R. E. 
Lee by far the greatest as a soldier, a citizen, an exec- 
utive officer and a Christian gentleman. In my humble 
opinion he stands without a superior. As president, 
he displayed distinguished ability, showing his great- 
ness of soul not only by refusing many far more lu- 
crative positions that he might be of more benefit to 
the rising generation, but also by his interest in all 
the students, financing some of them through college, 
and looking after their physical, mental, moral, and 
spiritual welfare. His influence over the whole body 
of students was remarkable. To illustrate, the boys 
once had planned a monster calli thump, but on the 
night it was to be "pulled off," Mr. J. Harvey Mc- 
Cleary, president of the Graham Lee Society, of which 
I was a member, rose from his chair and said: "Gentle- 
men, nothing doing to-night, Marse Robert says not," 
and every boy went straight home, and not a sound 
was heard to disturb the quiet of the town. 

I have often seen him on the campus or on the street 
with a group of children clinging to both his hands. 

In discipline he was firm and exacting, but kind and 
just. Socially, he was very genial, cordial and very 
entertaining in conversation. 



112 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

I boarded a short time in the home of the widow 
Cameron in the country north of town and as Traveller 
was temporarily kept there, he made regular weekly 
visits to see his faithful war horse. Traveller was a dark 
iron-gray. General Lee had another horse, a big sorrel, 
named Ajax. 

Dr. T. H. Somerville, Oxford, Mississippi: 
After the War of Secession the generosity of a kins- 
man afforded me the privilege of selecting a college 
at which to complete my education. I chose Wash- 
ington College because of my admiration for General 
Lee who had become its president. At Lexington I 
found many who had followed the General during the 
eventful years of the war. Among them was Colonel 
Charles T. O'Farrell, in whose hospitable home my 
student friend and I secured board and lodging. When 
we returned for the session of 1869-70, Colonel 
O'Farrell had leased and opened the Lexington hotel. 
With some degree of hesitation we put up at the hotel, 
where we had many friends and had a pleasant time. 

About two months later, however, I received a note 
from General Lee containing an invitation to call at his 
office. I hid the note, but attended promptly to the 
request. The General received me kindly, and after a 
few remarks, reminded me that my grades were not as 
good as usual, and said that he had sent for me to talk 
the matter over. I admitted that the marks were low, 
but, as I remember, ventured the opinion that they were 
not materially below my former grades. He thereupon 



BRIEF STATEMENTS BY "LEE ALUMNI" 1 13 

took from the drawer of his table several cards upon 
which were written the grades for the current term and 
those for corresponding months of the former session. 
I admitted the damaging contrast. The General said I 
should have known it was against the rule for students 
to board at a hotel. I promised to make a change with- 
out delay. He drew from the same drawer a small 
photograph of himself on which he wrote his name, and 
then gave it to me. 

I found a room which had been the office of Major 
Dorman in the court-yard, and boarded at the home of 
the Misses Waddell nearby. The General had no occa- 
sion to summon me again. I still have the photo and 
autograph, which have been carefully preserved as 
mementos of the visit. 

Rt. Rev. James R. Winchester, Little Rock, Ar- 
kansas: 

I entered Washington College in the fall of 1869 
with a letter of introduction to the great President, 
Robert E. Lee. I went into his presence with much 
timidity, but immediately felt from the warm pressure 
of his hand, and the loving sympathy that flashed from 
his eye, and his words of fatherly counsel, that I was 
blessed indeed in having the privilege of matricu- 
lating as one of his students. There was no time that 
he ever failed to recognize me, and had always a kindly 
word of cheer to say at the right moment. There will 
always be in the memory of the students who attended 
chapel services the inspiration of the Christian Presi- 



114 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

dent, regularly in his place; and also in the Episcopal 
church he never failed to be present in his pew and 
take part in the services. 

One of the proudest moments of my life, as a student, 
was during an examination in geometry when General 
Lee was present at the oral examination and listened 
with interest to the demonstration which I was fortu- 
nately able to give perfectly. His smile of approval was 
worth more than the class distinction that year. 

General Lee knew each one of the students personally 
and watched his college career with a fatherly interest. 
In those days Lexington had open saloons, and some of 
the students were disposed occasionally to pass the 
bounds of sobriety, but General Lee knew exactly how 
to bring the wandering one back to himself with a high 
ideal erected in his mind. May I cite an instance: My 

friend , indulging a little too freely, staggered on the 

street when he noticed the splendid horse, " Traveller," 
passing by, bearing the Hero of the South. He imme- 
diately straightened himself hoping he might have 
escaped the glance of the eagle eye. Nearly a week 
passed when he found his name on the bulletin board in 
the list of those asked to call at the president's office. 
He went apprehensive of a stern rebuke. General Lee 

said: "Mr , I had occasion to write to your 

mother some time ago and it gave me great pleasure to 
tell her how well you were getting along in college." 
This kindly greeting threw my friend entirely off his 
guard, and his reply was: "I trust I may ever live 
worthy of your commendation." The General, kindly 



BRIEF STATEMENTS BY "LEE ALUMNI" IIS 

looking at him said: "Mr. , did it ever occur to 

you that when you reach middle life or a time of sick- 
ness, that you may need a stimulant, and if you have 
accustomed yourself to taking stimulants in your early 
life it will require so much more to have the desired 
effect at a time when you may need it?" And he then 
suggested how much better it would be if he would 
abstain from intoxicants during his college life. My 
friend spoke of it in after years, and hanging on his wall 
was that letter the General had written to his mother. 
He was deeply affected, and said he never forgot that 
interview, which was a benediction to his whole life. 

General Lee led us all by cords of love, and through 
him the great honor system of Washington College was 
established and universally practiced. At the end of the 
session of 1869, the commencement exercises being over, 
I met him in front of his house, and though I was one 
of the insignificant freshmen that year, he knew exactly 
what I had done in my class work, and congratulated 
me upon my success, referred to my mother and hoped 
I would find her well upon my return home. 

I value the certificate received that year, when I com- 
pleted the English course, bearing his signature, beyond 
my degrees of later years. I also treasure the same kind 
of letter alluded to above to my mother which she gave 
me to keep as a special treasure. 

General Lee as college president was great because of 
his sympathetic touch, and because he understood 
boy life. 

The greatest blessing that ever came to my educa- 



Il6 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

tional life was the course of study under such a leader at 
Washington College, afterwards Washington and Lee 
University. And I learned to love his son and successor 
in office, General Custis Lee, with the same affection 
that I felt for his father. 

Mr. Hubbard G. Carlton, Richmond, Virginia: 
General Lee's interest in the student body, in my 
judgment and experience, was the crowning feature 
of his administration. What could be more vital to 
the hundreds of students, composed of youths — some 
mere boys — young men, and battle-scarred veterans 
who had fought under him, than the parental interest 
he felt and showed to all alike .^ To the youth he was 
indeed a father, gently admonishing, if wayward, en- 
couraging, if backward, and praising, if successful, — 
always mindful of our moral and physical welfare. 
To the mature he was both friend and counselor, 
exercising the same watchful care — encouraging, com- 
plimenting, and admonishing, if necessary. To all 
he was the same, a peerless model, influencing by wise 
precept and noble example. 

Among the incidents in my four years of college life, 
few were brighter than his annual letter to my father at 
the close of each session. At first he used to write these 
himself. Later, they were written by the clerk of the 
faculty, but General Lee always signed them, — thus 
showing his personal interest. Though fifty years have 
passed, I still hold and prize them among my brightest 
jewels. 



BRIEF STATEMENTS BY "LEE ALUMNI" II7 

To his unfailing interest in the student body I owe 
my "degree." Becoming discouraged in "math," I 
gave up algebra and geometry. General Lee, ever 
watchful and interested, soon discovered this and sent 
for me. In the interview, he emphasized the great 
importance of a thorough knowledge of mathematics, 
and in his usual gentle way advised and urged me to 
reconsider the matter. I could but yield — and was 
richly rewarded when, three years later, June, 1870, in 
the dear little chapel, erected to him, and to which his 
mausoleum was soon to be added, I received from his 
hands my A. B. diploma. 

Mr. Graham Robinson, Lexington, Virginia: 
I was a student under him for three years, 1868 to 
1 871, and saw him frequently, but as a boy of 16 years 
did not appreciate at that time the privilege I enjoyed 
and was not old enough to note the great qualities he 
possessed. 

I remember only trivial matters in connection with 
him — that he always recognized us boys when he met us 
on his strolls through the town or the grounds of the 
college and called us all hy name. It seemed remarkable 
to me that he was able to remember our faces and names 
among as many as four hundred and ten students. I 
also recall that his custom was to write to the parent of 
each boy a letter, sometimes in his own handwriting, 
about once a year, concerning the young man's conduct, 
and that he wrote such a letter to my father commend- 
ing me for good conduct, etc. 



Il8 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

His method of discipline was kind and parental, and if 
any one of us committed any offense he was summoned 
before the General for reproof, and while I, myself, do 
not remember being called before him, I have heard the 
experience of other boys who were. He, they said, spoke 
kindly to them, gave them good advice and was so kind 
and fatherly that the boys never again gave him cause 
to reprove them. 

He had a custom of inviting us in batches of four or 
five to his home for "tea" (as it was then called) and I 
remember very distinctly an evening spent there when 
we met Mrs. Lee and his daughters, Miss Mildred and 
Miss Agnes, and the General entertained us with such 
talk as one would expect under the circumstances, and 
as a boy I recall that they gave us as refreshments the 
finest pecans I have ever seen, which were sent to the 
General by some admirer. 

Rev. Robert H. Fleming, Baltimore, Maryland: 
There stands on the mantle in my room at Hills- 
dale — framed, "R. H. Fleming has permission to be 
absent from his recitations to-day. R. E. Lee, Pres." 
I met General Lee at the entrance to the chapel, stated 
why I wished to be absent. "Certainly, Mr. Fleming," 
he replied, " You write it and I'll sign it." On a leaf torn 
out of my scratch pad I wrote the above and General 
Lee signed it. 

John S. VanMeter of New York and I were the first 
students assigned by Prof. White, as a Guard of Honor 
in General Lee's study, immediately after his death. 



BRIEF STATEMENTS BY "LEE ALUMNI" 1 19 

Rev. William Boyle, Presbyterian Church, Liver- 
more, Iowa: 

I entered the University in the fall of 1870, and 
spent four years there, graduating in i 873, and spend- 
ing another year in the prosecution of some special 
studies. General Lee died, if my memory serves me 
right, just two or three months after I went there. 
I regret that for some reason or other, I was never 
introduced to him personally. I saw him, of course, 
at chapel exercises, or riding around the environs on 
his white horse, or wheeling his wife back and forth 
on the veranda at his home. 

The funeral exercises in front of the Lee chapel have 
lingered in my mind, closing with the hymn, "How firm 
a foundation ye saints of the Lord." 

The institution of the code of honor in connection 
with examination exercises is, of course, well known, I 
presume it still continues in the university. It had a 
tremendous influence on the students. I remember that 
on one occasion, when a young man had violated his 
pledge, and it became publicly known to the students, a 
mass meeting was called, and a resolution passed not to 
have anything more to do with him as long as he re- 
mained in the university. He tarried only two days 
after that. 

Mr. A. H. Hamilton, Staunton, Virginia: 
When I applied for matriculation in September, 
1866, he asked me what studies I wished to take and 
I told him Latin, Greek, and mathematics, he expressed 



I20 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

his approval and gratification at the selection of 
studies that I had made. 

I regard him as the noblest specimen of manhood I 
ever came in contact with. I often mention with pride 
that I received my diploma from his hands in June, 
1870. 

Mr. Jo Lane Stern, Richmond, Virginia: 
In the winter of 'Gg-'jo General Lee went South 
with Miss Agnes for his health. Miss Mary sent for 
me one day and told me if I would go out to Dr. Ruff- 
ner's farm for some celery to be used in the salad at 
the Episcopal church fair, then going on, I might ride 
old Traveller, the General's war horse. Bargain was 
never sooner made, and in a few minutes I was mounted, 
and with the General's saddle and bridle. When I 
got to the courthouse corner a lot of students on the 
street saw me, and immediately gave chase in order to 
share my glory, but I was selfish and Traveller was 
too fleet of foot for them. 

While the people at Dr. Ruffner's were getting the 
celery I was pulling out handfuls of Traveller's mane 
and tail, and had pockets full when I came back. Some 
vandal stole it from me years afterwards, but the mem- 
ory of being the only person outside of the Lee family as 
far as I ever knew, to ride Traveller abides with me still. 

Mr. Willa Viley, Wiley, Georgia: 
As to my dear General Robert E. Lee, what can I 
say? He was almost a second father to me. I do not 



BRIEF STATEMENTS BY "LEE ALUMNI" 121 

know how to express my deep admiration for him. I 
was not there when he became connected with the 
university. To me he was the grandest of men. His 
unobtrusive demeanor; his dignity and gentleness; his 
firmness in and devotion to principle, elevated, graced 
and gave dignity to official and personal associations. 

Mr. Albert L. Rees, Savannah, Georgia: 

I don't know of anything I could write about General 
Lee that would aid you in your work, or that could 
possibly make Southerners think any more of him 
than they do. He was, in my opinion, the greatest man 
that ever lived. His private life was as great or pos- 
sibly greater than was his public life. 

I have a letter written by him, dated February 6, 
1867, to my mother about me, which I prize most 
highly. When in Lexington, as a student, I boarded 
with the family of the Rev. Mr. Wm. McElwee, the 
place secured for me by General Lee. Mrs. McElwee, 
who visited the Lees took me with her on several 
occasions and in this way I met Mrs. Lee and the Misses 
Mildred and Agnes Lee. I have a daughter whose 
name is Mildred Lee Rees. I could talk an hour or 
more on this subject, but don't know how to write. 

If I remember correctly, and I think I do, General 
Lee never issued an order to or for the students, but we 
would find on the bulletin board, "General Lee requests 
the students to do or not to do such and such a thing," 
always in the form of a request, and with the students, 
a request from him was Law. 



122 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

J. Parry McCluer, Superintendent City Schools, 
Buena Vista, Virginia: 

The first impression made on me during my student 
life under General Lee was his knowledge of the boys; 
not only their names but their home and family ties. 
When he met us on the street or campus, he not only 
recognized us as students, but called us by name. 
When I asked for leave of absence, if he thought it 
best that I should go at that time, he would write on 
my application, "Granted, R. E. Lee." He would 
then express a wish that I might find my father and 
mother well and that I might enjoy my visit. 

On April ist of one of the years I spent at college, 
there was an incident which showed clearly the in- 
fluence he had on the boys, and the respect they had 
for his wishes. All arrangements were made by the 
"fast set" to have a big "calli thump." This was done 
several days ahead. When we went to college that 
morning we found on the bulletin board something 
like this: "The young gentlemen will please not make 
any unusual noise to-night, as there are quite a number 
of sick people in town. R. E. Lee." So far as I know, 
not a boy tried to carry out the program. 

Mr. James H. McCown, Lexington, Virginia: 
I became a student at Washington College in Septem- 
ber, 1870, going from my home every day to college, a 
distance of between five and six miles. I kept this up 
until after General Lee's death, when I decided to 
board in town. I saw General Lee only a few times 



BRIEF STATEMENTS BY "LEE ALUMNI" 123 

before his death, when he was out on the campus, 
and hence my opportunities of learning anything 
about him were very limited. 

He showed his interest in me as a student by writing 
a letter to my father, commending my work as a stu- 
dent, as I am told by a member of the family. This 
letter was not preserved, and I never saw it, very much 
to my regret now. I presume he wrote to the parents 
of other boys in the same way. 

I was in the class room under Professor Milton W. 
Humphreys as teacher, at the moment of his death and 
I distinctly remember the feeling of awe and solemnity 
that seemed to spread over the class when the news 
was brought to the class that General Lee had passed 
away. 

Mr. John F. Ponder, Los Angeles, California: 
When I entered college I was a bashful, unsophis- 
ticated youth, having received most of my previous 
education from tutors at my home. I was unaccus- 
tomed to many companions and had a further handicap 
of poor health. So, owing to my bashfulness and poor 
health, I did not mingle with the others to the extent 
that would probably have furnished many varied 
experiences. 

The students and entire population of Lexington 
had not only the highest respect but the deepest love 
for General Lee. One cause for this was the very real 
interest he took in everyone. I well remember my own 
feeling of gratification over an interview I had with him. 



124 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

One morning while attending Professor Massie's class in 
French, I was informed that General Lee wished to see 
me. The announcement almost took my breath away. 
I immediately commenced conjuring up all the little 
wanderings from the straight and narrow path that I 
might have committed and that good students were 
expected to keep from. Having somewhat neglected my 
studies by indulging too freely in a new found pleasure, 
that of skating, I concluded the wasting of my oppor- 
tunities was what he wished to guard me against. I 
went to see him with a great deal of trepidation in his 
little cramped office in the two-story building at the 
extreme right wing of the college. As I walked in, 
introducing myself with the statement that I had been 
informed by Professor Massie that he wished to see me, 
he immediately arose from his chair, came forward, 
grasped me by the hand, and invited me to have a chair. 
He at once inquired about my family, about what I had 
been doing before coming to college, how I liked it, and 
what calling I thought of following after leaving college, 
my views of life, etc. As he talked to me in such a kind, 
fatherly and business way, giving me advice for the 
future, gradually my bashfulness and fear left me and 
then he capped the climax, just before bidding me 
good-by, by complimenting me on my standing in 
school. In leaving the room I felt as if I walked on air. 

General Lee, being of a religious nature, took much 
interest in the moral welfare of the students, and tried 
to keep them in good, respectable homes and away from 
hotels and other like public places. 



BRIEF STATEMENTS BY "LEE ALUMNI" 125 

As to his family relations I think they were of the 
happiest kind. His wife, I always understood, was 
much of an invalid. I never saw her, but often saw 
his daughters. 

As memory turns back a long forgotten page, I can 
see myself with dozens of fellow students standing in 
front of the old Presbyterian church taking off our hats 
with heart-felt pleasure to General Lee as he rode by on 
his old war horse, that he loved and rode so well. 

Mr. W. H. Tayloe, Union town, Alabama: 
I arrived at Lexington on the 9th day of October, 
1869; a green country boy, who had never before 
ventured far from home; seventeen years of age, ig- 
norant not only of books but of the world, its ways and 
by-ways. With other boys I first went into the office 
of Mr. J. M. Leech, the secretary of the faculty. There 
I registered. After that Mr. Leech took us in and 
introduced us to General Lee. I have always been 
near-sighted. The room was dark. I saw nothing 
much; nothing that impressed itself on my memory. 
It seemed to me very perfunctory. That may have 
been the result of a "nil admirari" spirit on my part. 
The interview left just no impression on me. That is all. 
I took all my time to learn my lessons. I had no time 
for chapel; and so I missed seeing the General there. 
Occasionally I saw him on his way to and fro, but not 
closely. The impression left on me is that of a stout old 
man who had no too great strength. Our paths never 
crossed in the ordinary course of life. 



126 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

I soon learned that Lewis, the negro janitor, passed 
around with little notes every Monday morning. They 
were sinister, and contained requests for visits to the 
General. That meant a lecture for some misfeasance 
or malfeasance. I did not want one of them. Such 
interviews were not at all prized. So I devoted most of 
my time to books. This incident shows how carefully 
the General kept up with the career of each particular 
student. 

I remember Lewis so well. The students should erect 
a monument to him. He was quite efficient and such a 
gentleman. He probably knew the General better than 
any of us. We were all devoted to Lewis in my day. I 
found him there upon my arrival and he was there when 
I left in the month of August, 1878. Peace to his ashes. 
His memory is as fragrant with me as was that of the 
other gentleman from Kentucky of whom Hopkinson 
Smith writes so lovingly. 

I did very well in my studies and stood at or near the 
head of my classes. I was in a class in mathematics 
under Professor Lyle. He was tutor under Professor 
Nelson. The General made it a practice to visit each 
room where an examination was held at some time 
during the morning. The best students were held for 
this visit. On the day of the examination I was afraid 
of that ordeal. At last, I was called to the board and 
given a problem. I hoped to finish before the General 
came in. But the professor held me until he did come. 
And so I had to rehearse the problem before him; much 
to my fear and horror. However, I stood the ordeal 



BRIEF STATEMENTS BY "LEE ALUMNI" 1 27 

well, as I knew the problem fully. After that, it was the 
usual thing for me to recite when the General was in the 
room. I could never see that any impression was made 
upon him. Nor did anything occur to make me have 
any particular impression of the person. I had no idea 
but one of fear and distance. 

I never spoke to him nor he to me after that first in- 
terview until commencement, 1870, and then only for a 
minute. I saw him once on Traveller. He was passing 
just as I came out of the gate at the Episcopal church. 
I saw him but a moment; the picture is with me yet. 
Traveller moved as if proud of the burden he bore. To 
me the horse was beautiful and majestic. It was the 
only time that I was impressed with the greatness and 
beauty and power and glory of the man. He sat erect in 
the saddle. The gloved hand held the bridle, the other 
hung gracefully at his side. He was every inch a king. 
It was only a moment, but the impression will last a 
lifetime. It is one of the joyous moments of life on 
which my memory loves to dwell. 

At commencement, I won the scholarship in Latin, 
Greek and mathematics and was also pronounced a 
"Distinguished Undergraduate." The signed paper to 
this day hangs now framed upon my wall. It is the 
only paper that I have with his signature. This honor 
was conferred the week before commencement day. 
The announcement was made towards the close of that 
week. That morning I had nothing to do, my examina- 
tions being over. About the middle of the forenoon I 
was standing alone before the door of the main building 



128 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

that faces the chapel. I saw the General coming up the 
walk towards the college. I hid behind the last pillar of 
the portico in front of the main building. I had no idea 
that he had noticed me. I considered myself safely 
concealed and there was no one in sight. My back was 
turned to the door of the main building. I heard a 
voice, turned and found him with hand extended to me. 
His soft notes of congratulation fell upon my ears and 
the hope that I would return the next session. That 
was all. I hardly knew what had happened. I was so 
utterly confounded I knew not what to say or do. The 
moment was soon gone and only the memory is left. 
Vacation carried me home. I returned in September. 
My recollection is that he was late in getting back to his 
work. I hardly saw anything of him even at a distance. 
One morning, as I was coming from the old mess hall 
up the path by the chapel to the college he passed on his 
way toward home, bent and broken. He never passed 
that way again in life. The next day we knew that he 
was ill, and then he passed to that mysterious realm. 

Judge D. Gardiner Tyler, Holdcroft, Virginia: 
In the autumn of 1867, after an absence of two years 
from America, I entered Washington College, under 
the presidency of General Lee. It was my privilege, 
and I shall count it always a blessing, to be intimate 
with his charming family during my student life, and 
to see the General nearly every day at his home or in the 
class room. My reverence for the great soldier deepened 
into a personal attachment for the noble gentleman. 



BRIEF STATEMENTS BY "LEE ALUMNI" 129 

the kind and gracious friend, so human and sympathetic 
with all his greatness. His very presence seemed to 
make purer the atmosphere around him, and there was 
in him a blended dignity and sweetness that made a 
man feel better for the seeing. The admiration and 
respect in which the students held him was universal, 
and during two years at college I never heard a jesting 
word spoken of General Lee. He took a personal in- 
terest in the students, and he was always open to 
approach in his home or his office. His influence with 
the wildest and most careless was wonderful, and yet 
no harsh word fell from his lips. A gentle reprimand 
to the most thoughtless was sufficient. I remember 
an incident that occurred the first year of my course 
in college that showed the remarkable control he 
could exercise over the student body at a time when 
the worst passions had been aroused among them. 

A very popular young student, a son of Judge Brock- 
enbrough, professor of law, got into a difficulty with a 
negro and was badly shot. His life was despaired of. 
As soon as the news of the assault reached the college, 
four hundred students, with a brother of the wounded 
boy at their head, searched for and captured the trem- 
bling wretch, and with a rope around his neck, marched 
through the streets of the town to the courthouse 
square, with intent to wreak their vengeance on the 
man. 

It was in vain that the college and town authorities 
sought to calm the frenzied mob and induce them to 
turn over the negro to the officers of the law. Just then 



I30 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

General Lee appeared. Immediately the tumult was 
hushed, and the General, standing in the midst of the 
excited throng simply said: "Young gentlemen, let the 
law take its course." The quiet words had the effect of 
a military order, and the negro's life was saved. 

During the final examinations, it was the custom of 
the General to request students to visit his office in the 
college building, so that he might talk with them and 
encourage them about their work at this crucial stage of 
their collegiate life. 

I recall a very pleasant interview I had with him after 
finishing my examinations and whilst waiting to learn 
the result. He was sitting at a table as I entered the 
room, and partially rising from his chair, asked me to be 
seated. He began to question me as to the branches I 
had been examined on, and when I told him that Span- 
ish was one, his face lighted up, and with a humorous 
twinkle in his eye he exclaimed: "Why, I know some 
Spanish myself; you know I was in Mexico." He then 
talked for some minutes in the most interesting way 
about the beauty of the tongue and the richness of the 
literature of Spain. When he finished I discovered 
that he knew far more Spanish than Professor Joynes 
had been able to impart to me! 

In the late spring of 1870 I saw General Lee for the 
last time. He was on his way to the South under the 
advice of his physicians for the benefit of his health, 
which had begun to fail. I was painfully struck with 
the change in his appearance since I had left Lexington 
the year before, and I think he had little hope of re- 



BRIEF STATEMENTS BY "LEE ALUMNI" 131 

cuperation. His face showed the deep Hnes, made 
more, I think, by grief for his people, than by disease, 
and he seemed weary and broken. In a few short 
months afterwards the South was weeping over his 
grave. The hero "whose name is a blessing to speak" 
had become an eternal memory! 

Mr. Joseph John Allen, Louisburg, North Carolina: 
I, myself, was the recipient of a proffered kindness 
of General Lee, as he offered me every inducement to 
return to college and graduate. I was introduced to 
him by Gov. Letcher and I told him of my being the 
youngest of six sons and having to quit school when 
all but me had left for the service of the Confederate 
States and that my time came at the age of seventeen 
and that I had not seen a book for years. At this he 
almost broke down and said, " That is bad^ He in- 
vited me to dinner with him and I very absent-mindedly 
declined his invitation on the ground that I wanted 
to get to work, and had not a moment to spare. He 
was delighted with my record. 

There was a poor boy in my class in intermediate 
Latin whose name was Harvey Butler Fergusson who 
had walked from Alabama to Washington College with 
all that his father could give him, viz. : a gold watch and 
three hundred dollars in money. He told General Lee 
of his condition, and that he wanted to go to college. 
At this General Lee almost melted but soon pointed out 
the way for the boy to get through. Fergusson ob- 
tained board and lodging with a Mr. Holden out on the 



132 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

road directly south of Lexington and walked to school 
every day over a distance of two or three miles. When 
vacation came he hired himself to two farmers of the 
neighborhood and worked as a field hand or at anything 
to make a livelihood. 

He went through college with distinction, and as well 
as my memory serves me, was given General Lee's 
scholarship, and taught in the college. He settled in 
New Mexico, where he was elected to Congress for 
several terms. The last I ever heard of him was that he 
was living in Washington, D. C. They called him 
Judge Fergusson. 

Mr. David J. Wilson, Emmorton, Maryland: 

I regret that as a student of Washington College 
during the presidency of General Robert E. Lee, I was 
not called upon sooner for information; as at an earlier 
date after leaving college I could have remembered 
more incidents and could have furnished more of the 
facts desired. 

I did not enter Washington College until the second 
year of General Lee's presidency. As a student of the 
college for two years I can give as facts the following: 

It was a general belief in all the Southern States, 
including Maryland, as expressed by the students 
therefrom, that the example of General Lee would 
weigh far more in the restoration of normal conditions 
and true peace than any other factor in a war-distracted 
country. The number of students was greatly increased, 
and it soon became evident that the college buildings 



BRIEF STATEMENTS BY "LEE ALUMNI" 133 

would not accommodate all. When this was known, 
nearly all Lexington families, whose homes permitted, 
offered to board at reasonable prices as many students 
as chose to accept their offer. Many did accept, and 
found pleasant homes. 

General Lee took great interest in the personal com- 
fort and welfare of the students while they were under 
his care. This was manifested from the time of the 
arrival of each student in Lexington until he had re- 
turned to his home. When a student was introduced to 

the General, addressing him as "Mr. ," he inquired 

what course of study he desired to take. His choice was 
accepted, but he was required to take as many studies 
as were prescribed in the college rules. The student was 
then put in charge of some instructor, who helped him 
find a suitable boarding house. 

His interest in the moral and spiritual welfare of 
students can be shown perhaps by one incident. Sev- 
eral of my friends thought of making a trip to the 
Natural Bridge (fourteen miles away) on a Sunday. It 
was suggested that one of our party should see General 
Lee the evening before, make known our intention, and 
secure his assent. But when the General heard of the 
plan he refused his assent, and said it was not only 
against the college rules to leave the town on Sunday, 
but it was wrong to spend Sunday in traveling for 
pleasure. 

His chief recreation, and I know of very little else, 
was horseback riding. This was generally between 
certain hours in the afternoon. On these occasions 



134 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

"Traveller" was always his mount. For this horse he 
showed a great fondness.* 

His discipline as college president was mild. The 
students knew that while he trusted to their honor to 
obey the rules of the college, if they intentionally broke 
a rule they would be called upon for an explanation. If 
the explanation was not satisfactory, the student was 
warned to be careful in the future, and told that a 
second offense might cause his dismissal. 

He did not show a marked preference for any partic- 
ular study, but it was generally thought his chief 
interest was in mathematics. He took great interest in 
beautifying the college grounds, and in the plans for 
new buildings. The new chapel was completed during 
his presidency. He showed and expressed interest in 
the construction and was often seen inspecting the work. 

The effect of General Lee's example and influence 
upon the student body was for their good, and was 
lasting. The students took the impressions received 
from his example and instruction to their states, and it 
goes without saying, future generations will reap benefit 
therefrom. 

I doubt if there ever lived a president of an institution 
of learning in our republic who during a space of time 
as short as that in which he was president of Washing- 
ton College, used his influence in a greater degree, and 

* When the new President's home was built for General Lee a comfortable 
and commodious brick stable was added on the back premises, next to the 
street. This was particularly gratifying to General Lee, who expressed 
much satisfaction over living " under the same roof" with Traveller. The 
two buildings were connected by a covered passageway. — Editor. 




General Lee on Traveller 
Last Homes of General Lee and Traveller 
Traveller's stable on the left side of this picture was connected with the 
President's Home by a covered passage way. 



BRIEF STATEMENTS BY "LEE ALUMNI" 135 

with greater success in the making of good citizens than 
did Gen. Robert E. Lee. 

Dr. Chalmers Deadrick, Knoxville, Tennessee: 

After General Lee's administration at Washington 
College began, I do not suppose a single student ma- 
triculated who was not a warm admirer of him. Close 
observation and personal acquaintance with his methods 
and manner, fostered a spirit of profound love and 
devotion. There were no kickers among the students. 
General Lee's personal and professional sublimity 
drew them unanimously and grappled their souls "with 
hooks of steel." 

The citizens of Lexington were also unanimous in 
their appreciation of General Lee's coming. Their 
welcome of the new president was cordial and enthu- 
siastic. They appreciated the honor that had fallen upon 
the town. They were proud in the consciousness that 
the greatest public character in history was their 
fellow citizen. 

General Lee's interest in the student body began with 
the beginning of his service and continued, unabated, 
up to the time of his death. His quiet, kindly manner 
when talking to a student, was always profoundly 
impressive. A timid student was invariably put at ease 
by a few minutes* talk. A wayward student, when 
summoned before him, was always positively benefited, 
unless he was made of impenetrable stuff. 

During the fall of '67 a student left the hill, without 
leave, and spent the whole day off duty. When sum- 



136 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

moned before General Lee to give an excuse for his 
absence, he frankly admitted that he was fox hunting. 
Very quietly General Lee remarked: "We did not come 

here to hunt foxes, Mr. ." Then followed some 

wholesome advice, which effectually settled the fox 
hunting matter for good. That boy never even wanted 
to go after foxes any more. 

Many times J have seen General Lee manifest affec- 
tion for Traveller, and Traveller always seemed to 
appreciate it. I have seen General Lee stand and gaze 
at the faithful old animal, apparently recalling scenes 
of the war. Then he would stroke Traveller's nose and 
hand him a lump of sugar. Traveller was his pet. A 
comrade and I frequently walked the road leading 
toward the "Peaks of Otter." We often saw General 
Lee riding on the same road alone. 

The effects of General Lee's presidency were manifest 
from the very beginning. The patronage increased 
rapidly. Hundreds of boys went to Washington College 
from all over the South, because General Lee was there. 
A large majority of the students present in the fall and 
winter of '65-'66, were ex-Confederate soldiers, who had 
lost several years of schooling by the war. They re- 
sumed their studies earnestly, and made good students, 
both as to application and deportment. 

As the years went by, the effects of his administration 
became more and more manifest. Had he lived longer, a 
large increase of accommodations would have been 
necessary in order to house the hundreds of new stu- 
dents. The southern people were soon convinced that 



BRIEF STATEMENTS BY "LEE ALUMNI" 137 

General Lee's influence upon their sons was an asset of 
immense value. His spirit overshadowed everything 
about the college and community. The profound re- 
spect and love of the students, was wonderful. They 
were eager, at all times, to obey his slightest wish. 

On one occasion they announced a great callithump 
to come off on a designated night. Much interest was 
manifested and extensive preparation was made. Some 
of the professors went among the boys with the warning 
and threat that General Lee would expel every student 
who took part in it. But General Lee had issued no 
order concerning it and the preparation continued. 
About thirty-six hours before the set time arrived 
General Lee posted a very polite notice on his bulletin 
board. I do not remember the wording, but it was 
addressed: "Young Gentlemen:" and ended: "I would 
rather you would not engage in another." There was no 
word of threat in it, but it was enough. The tin horns, 
tin pans and other paraphernalia promptly disappeared 
and the callithump was a thing of the past. A student 
from California wanted to go on with it, arguing that 
General Lee had not ordered it off, but he could get no 
followers and came near getting into serious trouble for 
proposing a thing so preposterous. General Lee's 
slightest wish was law. He led the students by the 
same cord he had used upon his devoted soldiers during 
the war. 

The fact that General Lee was once its president, will 
have a lasting influence in favor of Washington and Lee 
University. I doubt whether, in the world's history, a 



138 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

college president ever exercised as powerful an influence 
for good over his students and faculty as did General 
Lee. 

Rev. C. C. Brown, Sumter, South Carolina: 

There are only a few left among us who can proudly 
say, "I followed Lee." Well, that is exactly what I 
did when I was a boy of seventeen years. I passed 
by other and more easily accessible schools in this 
and in neighboring states, and went to Lexington to 
follow Lee. It pleased my old father, who was then 
eighty-four years old, and it pleased me; for I was a 
southern boy, full of every southern instinct, good or 
bad. 

Jim Aldrich and I made the long trip to Lexington 
together from our homes in Barnwell, S. C. Jim after- 
wards became a judge on the bench — I became a Bap- 
tist preacher. Jim has gone on to join the big major- 
ity, and I am reaching out to lay hold of my seventieth 
year. 

Lexington could boast of no railroad in those good 
days, and we rolled into town one evening, in 1869, in a 
stage coach. I had never been among the mountains 
before, and the slow journey gave me a chance to see 
what I had never seen — the mountains face to face and 
close up. 

General Lee's office was then where they tell me it 
still is. If no hand has disturbed it, I know full well 
how it looks. The morning after my arrival, fortified 
with and emboldened by a letter of introduction from 



BRIEF STATEMENTS BY "LEE ALUMNI" 139 

General Johnson Hagood, who had known General Lee 
on the field, and who afterwards was made governor of 
South Carolina, I stood at the office door of the man I 
had been taught to believe was the greatest man in the 
whole world. My heart cut all kinds of capers, and my 
knuckles could make but a very gentle tap on the office 
door, I was not sure what would happen when I really 
stood face to face with the General. I did not know 
what his manners were — how he treated boys — fright- 
ened boys like me — nor had I been able to make up any 
sort of set speech for the occasion. My approach was to 
be purely ex tempore. But I did at last timidly rap, and 
the voice which told me to come in seemed to bring with 
it a sort of strengthening and sustaining power. Within 
two minutes, I was seated in a chair, talking to the 
General as if I had known him and had played at his 
feet from childhood. After reading General Hagood's 
letter, he told me of some of his experiences with Ha- 
good during the war. Then he asked me questions 
about my studies, and when I went away from his 
office, I carried with me a determination to go back and 
talk with him again. The truth was he had won my love 
and admiration, and I was ready to take my place 
among his worshipers. He called me "Mr. Brown." 
That was the first time in my life "Mr." had ever been 
prefixed to my name, and it gave me a feeling that was 
quite peculiar. 

After that, I met General Lee on the streets, in his 
home, on the campus, and in his office, but it was never 
necessary to be introduced to him a second time. He 



I40 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

had the remarkable faculty of recognizing faces and 
knowing names. If he met one or two of the students 
walking on the street, it was his custom to call each by 
his name. If he had had no other gift for the college 
presidency, this would have gone far towards qualifying 
him. 

It came to pass that the professor who taught us 
senior Latin was given an assistant. The intermediate 
examination was raging like a forest fire. The young 
professor said the nearest he could come to the word 
examination in a Latin sound was examen apum^ and he 
called upon us to translate the two words which he had 
written on the blackboard. While thirty or more of us 
were struggling over the words, General Lee walked into 
the room. The professor stated our trouble — that we 
could not translate those two words on the board — a 
senior class at that. General Lee read the words, then 
turned to us and said. "If one of you young gentle- 
men will undertake to give us the meaning of the first 
word, I think I can supply the meaning of the second." 
It was manifest that he was stumped, just as we were. 
The professor came to our help by saying, "How will 
swarm do.''" "Ah, then," said the General, "we'll 
make it a swarm of beesT 

I thought the old man was so far away from school- 
days and school-books, and had been so mixed up with 
blood and battles, that he didn't know a Latin word on 
the earth. 

Whether General Lee died during the night or early in 
the morning, I cannot now recall. I remember well, 



BRIEF STATEMENTS BY "LEE ALUMNI" 141 

however, that I had entered the gate to the campus just 
in front of the President's house, and was about half- 
way to the main building, about nine o'clock, that 
October morning, when a fellow student from Texas 
said to me, " General Lee is dead ! " I had known he was 
sick, and we had daily bulletins about his condition. 
But to know that he was dead! It produced a subdued 
state of mind that I cannot now describe. I went to my 
room, and commenced to write. I wrote letters to my 
parents, to friends and acquaintances, and filled every 
letter with all kinds of encomiums of our dead President. 

The funeral I need not describe, more than to say I 
was there to keep step in the great procession that 
followed him and old Traveller down by the V. M. I. and 
back to the chapel. What went on in the chapel, I 
never knew, as I stood outside under the trees because of 
a house that was more than full. 

I went often to his grave beneath the chapel to look 
upon it and reflect upon his greatness; and to this day, 
after fifty years have passed, I can say from a grateful 
heart, I am glad I was able to look upon the form of 
Robert E. Lee and to hear the sound of his living voice. 



PRESIDENT LEE AND THE STUDENT 

By Dr. S. Z. Ammen, Baltimore, Md. 

GENERAL LEE was an efficient president and 
used his influence in the collegiate world, of 
faculty and students, with admirable results. 
He was not, it is true, a college president of the type 
now prevalent. He was not an academic man whose life 
had been spent on the campus and in the lecture-room, 
with an environment of civilians; he had been educated 
at West Point, among officers, accustomed to obey and 
be obeyed, enforcing discipline under a tradition of 
aloofness. Recently he had commanded large armies 
and decided great issues, having to do with men under 
hard conditions. It was, accordingly, not to be ex- 
pected that he could all at once drop the habits of a 
lifetime, and appear in a new role. He had all the great 
virtues, with most of the minor ones. His dignity of 
demeanor, his courtesy, his s avoir f aire ^ were remark- 
able. 

He was not, however, of ardent temperament, or 
expansive, or particularly affable. He did not mingle 
much with us students. To us he was an Olympian, 
remote, seen in a haze of great deeds, in a great and 
tragic past. We knew him in the routine of collegiate 
duties as a just, firm, polite administrator, whose 



PRESIDENT LEE AND THE STUDENT 143 

lightest word was law. Undoubtedly his presence was 
stimulative to professors and students. It was also 
restrictive. The boys were kept from many a bit of 
cantankerous disorder to which the student, reacting to 
dull drudgery, will sometimes turn. There was a feeling 
of awe inspired by the ex-commander of the C. S. army. 
The respect for him was profound. A word of disap- 
proval quelled the most determined calli thump. 

We likened him to Agamemnon, and we were his 
Achaioi, battling on the windy plains of Troy. Spirit- 
ually, then, he thoroughly dominated us, however 
reticent, and in manner remote. 

The respect in which we held General Lee is illus- 
trated in a "poem" written by a student at Christmas, 
1866, describing an alleged faculty meeting held to 
decide whether our request for a week's holiday should 
be granted. It will be observed that the professors are 
jocularly treated as faddists absorbed in their several 
specialties, but General Lee is pictured as the students' 
friend, an awful monarch, Atreus' son. King of Men, far 
superior to his subordinate chiefs. 

WHY WE DID NOT GET HOLIDAY 

The Scene is laid in Agamemnon's tent at Troy. 
"Latium's King" was Prof. Harris. The "Argive" was 
Prof. White. "Th' Adventurous Chief" was Prof. 
Joynes. The "Lord of the Hypothenuse" was Prof. 
Nelson. The roamer of the "shoreless ethereal sea" 
was the Professor of Physics. The expert on "loams" 



144 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

was the much-loved Prof. Campbell. It is to be ob- 
served that General Lee, the "King of Men," favored 
the petition. He could do no wrong. 

High on his throne, in awful state, 

Apart sits the King of Men. 
His mighty Chiefs about him wait, 
Scratching each one his learned pate, 

As not to scratch were pain. 

Now first out-spake the sceptered King, 

Basileus of all the Greeks, 
" Scriptor Scriptorum, haste straight to bring 
The petition hither. 'Tis a little thing 

They ask — not even two weeks." 

Then parvus scriptor^ with prologue brief. 

Stood forth, and standing read: 
"To Atreus' son, each mighty chief, 
Who rules supreme to turn the leaf, 

Be due obedience paid." 

"Now we all wearied with ceaseless war 

'Gainst Idlesse fair and Love — 
Love and longing for homes afar. 
Where house-hold gods and sweethearts are. 

Would ask your leave to rove." 

" Rove would we, to return again. 

With undiminished wrath, 
To conquer oft, on the Trojan plain, 
Dull exercise and problems vain 

In Latin, Greek and Math." 

Scriptor Scriptorum solemnly read 

This simple prayer, tho' hardy. 
While Latium's King inclined his head. 
Twirled his pencil and dixit " Sed — 

But the Argive King said "tade" 



PRESIDENT LEE AND THE STUDENT 145 

"Assembled Kings of"— "Pas du tout," 

Outcried th' adventurous Chief 
Whose Kingdom lies extended through 
Those lands where men say " Parlez-vous" 

"It is my firm belief" — 

" Belief! I know it, " exclaimed in wrath 

The Lord of th' Hypothenuse; 
"Here's the equation of the very path 
They'd take! O lovely Math, 

How thou dost suffer abuse!" 

"Abused be Math forever and aye 

By all whose heads are level," 
Said Nestor then, recalling the day 
When long ago, as poets say 

Math was wife of the Devil. 

■'Level! That means," said he who roams 

The shoreless ethereal sea, 
"In a plain which"— "But," said another, "loams 
With HCl make abundant foams. 

For CO2 is set free." 

Thus the wordy war went round, 

Till — as it leaks out now — 
The petition forgot, Math knocked down. 
Language triumphing, with deaf'ning sound, 

The Faculty broke up in a row. 
December 18, 1866. —Pindar (S. Z. A.) 



REMINISCENCES OF GENERAL LEE 

By Edward V. Valentine, Richmond, Virginia 

This interesting contribution was written by the honored sculptor, still 
living, who made the celebrated "Recumbent Statue" of General Lee. 
The greater part of the article was published in The Outlook of Dec. 22, 
1906, though Mr. Valentine has kindly added a few concluding para- 
graphs for this publication. — Editor. 

IT was Thorwaldsen's good fortune (he may have 
thought it at the time his ill fortune) to model a 
bust of Lord Byron. Be that as it may, the 
sculptor had no little difficulty in the prosecution of 
his work, for before the sittings had fairly begun trouble 
had already developed. The genial artist himself 
tells the story of the morbid poet's posings for him. 
He says: "When this nobleman came to sit for me in my 
atelier, he took a seat opposite me and put on directly a 
strange expression entirely different from his natural 
one. *My lord,' I said to him, 'please keep perfectly 
still, and I beg of you do not look so disconsolate.' 'It 
is my natural expression,' replied Byron. 'Really,' I 
said; and without paying attention to this affectation, I 
began to work in my own way. When the bust was 
finished, everybody thought it a striking likeness, but 
my lord was dissatisfied. 'This face is not mine,' he 
said. * I look far more unhappy than that' — for he was 
positively bent on looking miserable!" 

Possibly, if I were asked to name the most character- 




. General Lee During the War 

Reproduced through the courtesy of Mr. Edward Valentine and the Editor 
of The Outlook. Mr. Valentine says, "I have a large collection of pictures of 
the General, but I prize this above them all." The following legend appears 
under this picture as published in The Outlook: 

"This portrait of General Lee is from a photograph taken in Richmond, 
Virginia, during the Civil War, for Mr. Valentine, the Sculptor, General Lee 
disliked having his photograph taken, but as this photograph was used by Mr. 
Valentine in some professional work, which he subsequently did, General Lee 
was persuaded by Mrs. Lee to sit for the photograph. Three negatives were 
taken at the time, of which this is by far the most characteristic." 



REMINISCENCES OF GENERAL LEE 147 

istic feature of General Robert E. Lee, who sat for me 
for a bust in 1870, my answer would be, "A complete 
absence of the melodramatic in all that he said and did." 
And I may add that an artist, above all other men, is 
quick to observe the faintest suggestion of posing; the 
slightest indication of a movement or expression which 
smacks of vanity he is sure to detect. Such weaknesses 
(which, as far as I know, are shared by many who are 
called the "great ones" of the world) were totally lack- 
ing in General Lee. 

In my diary (which, with the omission of a single 
entry, I have kept since 1857) I have endeavored to 
note down the very words of my sitters at times; and 
only on one occasion did General Lee make the slightest 
remark in regard to the likeness which would lead me to 
believe that he had critically been watching the progress 
of the work, and this was when the bust was in an un- 
finished condition. 

On the 25th of May, 1870, General Lee was at my 
studio in Richmond, and it was my great privilege to 
make accurate measurements of his face for the bust. 
His stay in the city was a short one. I was able to take 
only this important preliminary step, yet it was on that 
occasion that I experienced for the first time his quiet 
sense of humor. During the conversation I had with 
him on that day I spoke of how my fortunes had 
changed since the war, possibly with the expectation of 
hearing some very sympathetic words from him; but to 
my surprise he simply remarked that "an artist ought 
not to have too much money." I am sure that he had at 



148 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

the moment no conception of the condition of my purse, 
for in less than ten days after this conversation I had to 
borrow from a relative the necessary funds to go to 
Lexington to model the bust which I have mentioned. 
Maybe, however, it was for my consolation that later in 
the conversation he said, "Misfortune nobly borne is 
good fortune." At the moment I thought the sentiment 
was original with him, but some time after his death 
while my wife was reading aloud the "Meditations of 
Marcus Aurelius," I discovered that it was a quotation 
from that author. At any rate, no more appropriate 
epitaph could be carved on the tomb of the great Vir- 
ginian. 

Just before parting with the General I remarked that 
I would go to Lexington then or in the fall, and he 
replied that he would have more time at the latter 
season, but that I had better go then. The fact of his 
appointing an early date for the sittings made the 
impression on my mind that he was at the moment 
thinking of the uncertainty of life. Had I waited until 
the fall, possibly I should never had him pose for me. 
He died October 12. 

On June 3, 1870, I left Richmond for Lexington by 
way of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad, going via 
Goshen Pass, made ever memorable by the words of 
another great Virginian, Commodore Matthew Fon- 
taine Maury, who on his death-bed asked that his 
remains be taken through this beautiful defile "when 
the laurels are in bloom." I arrived in Lexington by 
stage early the next morning, and called on General Lee 



REMINISCENCES OF GENERAL LEE 149 

at his residence. He was very kind in his manner; 
showed me the portraits hanging on the wall; and then I 
started to seek a room where I might model the bust. 
After an unsuccessful search for this temporary studio, I 
reported to the General, who possibly from my manner 
saw that I was disappointed in not finding one. At any 
rate, he said, "You can work in here," speaking of the 
room on the left of the front hall. I at once remarked 
that there was a carpet on the floor. "I will have that 
taken up," he said. But I preferred not to accept his 
kind offer, and in a further hunt I found a vacant store 
under the hotel on the main street. Unfortunately, it 
had been closed I know not how long, and I feared the 
dampness. Although it was in June, I had a fire lighted, 
for I had noticed that the General would put his hand on 
his breast from time to time, probably suffering with a 
heart trouble that followed an attack of pneumonia after 
the battle of Fredericksburg. 

The day of my arrival the General walked with me up 
into the town. Stopping at a store he espied an ac- 
quaintance (Mr. Archibald Alexander), he said, "Mr. 
Archie, here is a young gentleman from Richmond who 
has come to make a bust of me. I wish you would sit 
for him." 

All such jokes could but be reassuring to me, and I 
began to feel less dread at being closeted for days with 
this great man. 

After the sittings began we were in reality closeted. 
I had been requested by him not to allow any one to 
come into the room — "no one but Professor White and 



I50 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

my son Custis," he said. That suited me exactly. 
Seeing the earnest manner in which I went to the work, 
he gave me every advantage. I carefully studied the 
face, and told him I would like to see his mouth. He 
knew what that meant, and I raised his mustache and 
took measurements of his lips. While the work was 
progressing he would from time to time entertain me 
with reminiscences and anecdotes. He seemed to be 
fond of speaking of his boyhood, swimming in the 
Potomac — of his teacher. Weir, at West Point, and of 
the Mexican War. I was also much interested in 
hearing his comments on persons and things of a more 
recent date. 

I think from the beginning that the General must 
have seen that I was fond of humor. So I am, but it is 
very doubtful whether there was much levity about me 
when I approached for the first time this grand idol of 
the South. I had been told of his noble simplicity, of his 
gentle and kindly bearing, but I confess that I could 
never appreciate how these qualities could ever neu- 
tralize the inquietude which I felt until I was once in 
his company. He who poses for a bust or a portrait may 
be expected to look his best, or what at least may appear 
to him his best. I could observe no difference in Gen- 
eral Lee's manner when he was sitting for me from that 
which was his ordinary bearing. After I had made some 
progress with the work, he very quietly remarked, 
"They say Custis is like me. Let him come now and 
sit for you." 

One day during the sittings he asked me if I knew a 



REMINISCENCES OF GENERAL LEE 151 

certain sculptress, and then began repeating, or trying 
to repeat, some syllables of the name. I knew whom he 
meant as soon as he asked me the question, but I let him 
shoot at the name two or three times before I called it, 
and on doing so he said: "Oh, that is the name! Well, 
the lady wrote me a very polite letter in which she asked 
if I would give her sittings for a bust, at the same time 
inclosing photographs of some of her works which were 
not too profusely draped. In her letter she also asked 
when she could come to make the bust, and a friend, 
who had been looking at the pictures, suggested July or 
August, as the most of her works seemed to have been 
done in the summer-time." 

Every artist of experience in portraiture appreciates 
the advantage of being able to work from a costume 
which he knows has been worn by the subject whom he 
has to represent. I could not expect to get a whole 
costume, but I did desire to be the possessor of a pair of 
the General's military boots. The question was how to 
get them. I at last thought of the expedient of ap- 
proaching the subject by telling my sitter an anecdote 
of an office-seeker who begged that President Andrew 
Jackson would consider his claim as a Minister to 
England. In reply the man was told that there was 
already a Minister at the Court of St. James. Then 
the applicant desired to be sent as Secretary of Lega- 
tion, but was told that that office was also filled. Then 
he wished to be sent as Consul, but there was no va- 
cancy. "Well, then," said the importunate man, "will 
you give me the place of Vice-Consul.''" "And there is 



152 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

no vacancy there either," said "Old Hickory," sharply. 
"Well, then, Mr. President, would you give me a pair 
of old boots?" 

"That is what I would like to have you do for me, 
General," said I. 

"I think there is a pair at the house that you can 
have," said he. And the next morning the General 
brought them under his arm to my working-room, and 
they are now safely stored in a bank in Richmond. 
While I prize them most highly, they were not exactly 
what I wanted. I was in hopes that he would give me a 
pair of military boots similar to those which I have often 
worked from, though I have found difficulty in getting 
a man of any size who could pose in them for me. 
They were too large for the General. The size of the 
pair he gave me is Number 4>^ C, and they are dress 
boots. Written on the lining is the following: "R. E. 
Lee, U. S. A." 

While on the subject of costume, I may mention that 
the General wore a colonel's uniform in the army. 
There was scarcely any possibility of his ever being 
mistaken for an under officer, however, but on one 
occasion a subordinate seemed not to recognize him. 
It was a little captain, and I have the story from an old 
soldier who witnessed the incident. A road had been 
very badly blocked by wagons, and General Lee, 
seeing that it was impassable, rode up and ordered the 
said captain to have it cleared. With an oath, the little 
fellow refused to obey the command. The order was 
repeated, and again disobeyed. "General Lee orders 



REMINISCENCES OF GENERAL LEE 153 

you to remove those wagons!" said the Commander. 
And no sooner had the name fallen upon the ears of the 
refractory captain than his shoulders fell upon the 
wheels of the wagons with all the strength he had. My 
informant, who had been highly amused at this scene 
between the Southern leader and his subaltern, stated 
that after the General had disappeared he approached 
the captain and asked him in a whisper, "Who's that 
old gem 'man you was talkin' to jest now?" 

The experience of an acquaintance of mine is another 
illustration of the humor of the General. When hos- 
tilities were about to begin, this gentleman, in great 
despondence, reported to the General that it would 
require some time for the old flint-lock "shooting-irons" 
of his company to be changed into percussion locks. He 
was in a dilemma, and the only way that the General 
could suggest to get him out of his difficulty was to 
"Telegraph to Mr. Lincoln to have the war put off for 
three weeks." 

As far as I could judge, with the exception of the 
General's family, my friend the late Professor J. J. 
White, of Washington and Lee University, was the 
closest person in Lexington to him. The two were 
accustomed to take long rides on horseback together. 
On one of these rides they were overtaken by darkness, 
and had to stop overnight at a farmhouse by the road. 
It so happened that there was only one vacant room in 
the house and one bed in that, which, to his horror, the 
professor found that he had to share with his old 
commander. It had to be done, but he said that he 



154 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

"would as soon have thought of sleeping with the 
Archangel Gabriel as with General Lee." He lay for 
the night on the very edge of the bed, and did not 
sleep a wink. 

While General Lee never posed himself, I thought it 
would be to my advantage to secure pictures of him in 
different positions. He kindly consented to go to a 
photograph gallery, and I had several taken of 
him. 

On one other occasion during my visit to Lexington he 
passed through another ordeal. Mrs. Lee, being an in- 
valid, could not go to the room where the bust was 
modeled. It had to be removed to her parlor, where 
were assembled a number of visitors. There he was by 
the good wife turned in different positions and the bust 
compared with the original, all of which he submitted 
to without a murmur. 

The last time I ever saw General Lee was on a sum- 
mer's afternoon when I called to take leave of him at his 
house. A gentleman and two ladies were in the parlor 
at the time. During the conversation the General made 
a remark which was calculated to startle the company. 
"I feel that I have an incurable disease coming on 
me," he said — "old age. I would like to go to some 
quiet place in the country and rest." 

In my profession I meet many intelligent strangers 
from all sections of this country and from abroad, all of 
whom I find genuinely interested in everything con- 
nected with General Lee. Those who had the privilege 
of his personal acquaintance at once recognize a charac- 



REMINISCENCES OF GENERAL LEE 155 

ter in which were blended the noblest qualities of mind 
and heart. 

A few expressions of his which are so far probably 
unknown tell the story of his life, and I cannot close 
without adding them: 

THE TEST OF A TRUE GENTLEMAN 

The forbearing use of power does not only form a touchstone, 
but the manner in which an individual enjoys certain advantages 
over others is the test of a true gentleman. 

The power which the strong have over the weak, the magistrate 
over the citizen, the employer over the employed, the educated over 
the unlettered, the experienced over the confiding, even the clever 
over the silly — the forbearing or inoffensive use of all this power or 
authority, or a total absence from it when the case admits it, will 
show the gentleman in plain light. The gentleman does not need- 
lessly or unnecessarily remind an offender of a wrong he may have 
committed against him. He can not only forgive, he can forget; and 
he strives for that nobleness of self and mildness of character which 
impart sufficient strength to let the past be the past. 

A true gentleman of honor feels humbled himself when he cannot 
help humbling others. 

To conclude, the whole is summed up in one single 
remark which I shall never forget. To those who have 
read that most entertaining book, Four Years with 
Marse Robert^ by the late Major Robert Stiles, the 
following sentence will be of interest. It forcibly indi- 
cates what General Lee thought "the best thing in the 
world." During the sittings I spoke of Major Stiles, 
of his cleverness, his culture, his bravery and other 
attractive qualities, and the General added: "and, 
better than all, he is a Christian gentleman." 

I have been asked whether the "Recumbent Figure" 



156 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

represents "Sleep or death." The lines written by 
my sister, the late Miss Sarah B. Valentine, express 
the idea which I wished to convey, and you can use 
them in your volume if you desire to do so. They are 
as follows: 

ON SEEING VALENTINE'S MONUMENTAL 
FIGURE OF LEE 

Lines by Miss Sarah B. Valentine 

I came to weep at a sculptured tomb, 

But, lo! no death was there; 
For I saw Life's mystical touch illume 
Each shadow of deep, sepulchral gloom 

With light celestial fair: 
With light celestial fair, in whose gleam 

My troubled soul grew blest. 
As its glory fell on the marble dream. 

Of that sleeper who lay at rest. 



WHAT GENERAL LEE READ AFTER THE WAR 

By Franklin L. Riley, Washington and Lee University 

GENERAL LEE read very few newspapers and 
made little effort to inform himself about the 
political storm that raged throughout the 
country after the war. When he appeared before 
the Reconstruction Committee of Congress in March, 
1866, he knew nothing about the Stewart plan of re- 
construction or the proposed Fifteenth Amendment, 
then before Congress, saying "I scarcely ever read a 
paper." The substance of this pending legislation had 
to be explained to him before his examination could 
proceed. Throughout this examination he emphasized 
the fact that since the war he had lived "a very retired 
life," that he had had "but little communication with 
politicians" and that he knew nothing more than 
from his "own observation" and from such facts as 
had come to his knowledge. 

With the exception of a single reference to the 
Washington Star^ the New York Times ^ the Watchman^ 
and a few casual references to other papers, not named, 
his letters never referred to current newspapers. In a 
letter of October 28, 1867, he said of the Seven Weeks' 
War: "At the time of the occurrence, I thought I saw 
the mistake committed by the Austrians; but I did 
not know all the facts." In the same letter he refused 



158 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

to review a book on this war because he did not have 
time to "sufficiently study the campaign." A letter 
to his wife, (August 14, 1879), contains a passing 
reference to the Franco-Prussian War. That he was 
interested in this war more from a moral than from a 
military point of view, is shown by the following ex- 
tract from a letter of August 23, 1870: 

"I have watched, with much anxiety, the progress of the war 
between France and Germany, and without going into the merits of 
the question at issue, or understanding the necessity of the recourse 
to arms, I have regretted that they did not submit their differences 
to the arbitration of the other Powers, as provided in the articles of 
the treaty of Paris of 1856. It would have been a grand moral 
victory over the passions of men, and would have so elevated the 
contestants in the eyes of the present and future generations as to 
have produced a beneficial effect. It might have been expecting, 
however, too much from the present standard of civilization, and I 
fear we are destined to kill and slaughter each other for ages to come. 
... As far as I can read the accounts, the French have met with 
serious reverses, which seem to have demoralized the nation and 
are therefore alarming. Whatever may be the issue, I cannot help 
sympathizing with the struggles of a warlike people to drive invaders 
from their lands." 

From these facts and many others which might be 
cited, one feels warranted in saying that General Lee 
spent no time after the war in the study of military 
strategy or in the serious study of any of the European 
wars of that day. There are many evidences that he 
became a civilian in the truest sense of the word. One 
will suffice: "For my own part," he wrote, "I much 
enjoy the charms of civil life, and find too late that I 
have wasted the best years of my existence." Yet 
his life as a civilian was not one of ease. It was filled 



WHAT GENERAL LEE READ AFTER THE WAR 159 

with numerous exacting duties and grave responsi- 
bilities which left little time for literary recreation. 
The following brief extracts, taken at random from his 
letters, will suffice: "I have been continuously occupied 
in business relating to the institution"; "My present 
duties occupy all my time"; "My duties are so con- 
stant and correspondence so large, that I am unable 
to keep pace with their demands"; "I cannot under- 
take to do more"; "I am so tired sitting at my table 
I must conclude"; "I can scarcely keep pace with my 
current correspondence." 

For the most part, his letters afford only negative 
information about the subject-matter of his reading. 
For instance, he wrote (October 25, 1865), to some 
gentlemen at Hartford, Conn., "I have not read the 
histories of the late war to which you refer," and to 
his cousin, Dr. Charles Carter, of Philadelphia he also 
wrote (April 17, 1867), that he had not read Pollard's 
Lost Cause. Yet this latter book, by his fellow Vir- 
ginian, editor of the Richmond Examiner^ had been 
pubhshed in 1866. A few months later (October 28, 
1867), he wrote to Dr. A. T. Bledsoe, then editor of the 
Southern Review^ acknowledging that he had not read 
an article in that magazine on the battle of Chancellors- 
ville and adding, "nor have I read any of the books 
published on either side since the termination of 
hostilities. I have as yet felt no desire to revive my 
recollections of those events, and have been satisfied 
with the knowledge I possessed of what transpired." 
His contempt for "catchpenny" books about the war 



l6o GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

was shown by his reply to an enterprising agent who 
sought his indorsement in exchange for a compli- 
mentary copy of a so-called history: "You must excuse 
me, Sir, I cannot recommend a book which I have not 
read and never expect to read." 

These statements will not warrant one in concluding 
that General Lee was not interested in history. He 
made personal appeals to many former Confederate 
officers to record the histories of their campaigns. 
He advised his daughter, Mildred: "Read history, 
works of truth, not novels, and romances. Get correct 
views of life and learn to see the world in its true light." 
In one of his most sublime paragraphs, he said: "It is 
history that teaches us to hope." In a letter expressing 
a hope that Generals Beauregard and Johnston would 
write histories of their campaigns, he said: "Everyone 
should do all in his power to collect and disseminate 
the truth, in the hope that it may find a place in history 
and descend to posterity." His interest in a true 
history of the war was further shown by his criticism 
of a glaring inaccuracy, which, as he "learned from 
others" had appeared in the works of "various authors 
of the 'Life of Jackson.'" 

It is interesting to note that General Lee's literary 
ambitions were along the lines of history and biography. 
The first of these was the preparation of a complete 
history of the Army of Northern Virginia. Soon after 
the surrender at Appomattox he began collecting 
materials for such a work. In the summer of 1865 he 
sent a circular letter to many of his old officers asking 



WHAT GENERAL LEE READ AFTER THE WAR l6l 

for their assistance and co-operation, saying: "I am 
desirous that the bravery and devotion of the Army of 
Northern Virginia be transmitted to posterity. This 
is the only tribute that can be paid to the worth of its 
noble officers and soldiers." Dr. J. Wm. Jones makes 
the following valuable comment on this phase of 
General Lee's literary activity: 

"Up to his fatal illness, General Lee was busily engaged in 
collecting material, and seemed very anxious to write a history of his 
campaigns; but his object was to vindicate others rather than him- 
self. He said to one of his generals, in a letter asking for his official 
reports: 'I shall write this history, not to vindicate myself, or to 
promote my own reputation, I want that the world shall know what 
my poor boys, with their small numbers and scant resources, suc- 
ceeded in accomplishing.' " 

General Lee was more fortunate in his second literary 
ambition, which was the preparation of a biographical 
sketch of his father for a new edition of the life of Gen. 
Henry ("Light Horse Harry") Lee. The manuscript 
of this "Biography," carefully written in General 
Lee's well-known chirography (105 pages), is now in a 
drawer of the book-case in his office at Washington 
and Lee University.* It was published by the Uni- 
versity Publishing Company under the title: "Memoirs 
of the War in the Southern Department of the 
United States, by Henry Lee ... with Revisions 

* With his characteristic modesty, General Lee said in the preface to this 
book: "The incidents from which the biography has been prepared were fur- 
nished to the editor of the present edition by his oldest brother, Charles 
Carter Lee, so that he had only to select from the materials prepared for 
him what he deemed appropriate for the purpose." But the facts as set 
forth in another part of this paper will show that the editor evidently studied 
the subject for himself 



1 62 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

and a Biography of the Author by Robert E. Lee." 
This work seems to have been finished June i, 1869, 
less than eighteen months before General Lee's death. 
His numerous footnote references not only in the 
Biography * but throughout the volume, the latter of 
which are designated by the abbreviation, "Ed.," 
indicate that his investigations were characterized by 
his usual patience and thoroughness. 

Were there any relaxations from these arduous 
literary tasks, which evidently consumed much of 
General Lee's rare intervals of leisure? I am glad to 
say there were occasions when he permitted himself 
to read for sheer pleasure. 

In the winter of 1866 Mr. Worsley, an English ad- 
mirer, contributed a copy of his translation of the 
Iliad to the General's meager library. In acknowl- 
edging the receipt of this book. General Lee wrote: 

"Its perusal has been my evening's recreation, and I have never 
enjoyed the beauty and grandeur of the poem more than as recited 
by you. The translation is as truthful as powerful, and faithfully 
reproduces the imagery and rhythm of the bold original. f 

* These references in his biographical sketch embrace the following 
books: Marshall's Life of Washington; Sparks' Life of Washington; Irving's 
Life of Washington; Sparks' Correspondence of Washington; Life of Charles 
Lee; Johnson's Life of Greene; Lee's Observations on the Writings of Jeferson; 
Elliott's Debates; Ramsay's American Revolution, and Custis' Recollections of 
Washington. 

t Does General Lee's appreciative reference to the "original" convey the 
idea that he was sufficiently well versed in the Greek language to appreciate 
"the imagery and rhythm" of the Iliad? Undoubtedly, since General Lee 
could not perpetrate a fraud by pretending to have accomplishments which 
he did not possess. His biographers give an account of his early training 
under Mr. W. B. Leary, an Irish teacher, from whom, before entering West 
Point, he ".acquired that knowledge of the classics and fondness for them 



WHAT GENERAL LEE READ AFTER THE WAR 1 63 

"The undeserved compliment to myself in prose and verse on the 
first leaves of the volume, I receive as your tribute to the merit of 
my countrymen who struggled for constitutional government. " * 

One of his sons, Capt. R. E. Lee, gives a delightful 
glimpse into his father's family circle shortly after 
the removal to Lexington: "That winter," says he, 
"my father was accustomed to read aloud in the long 
evenings to my mother and sisters 'The Grand Old 
Bard,' f equally to his own and his listeners' enjoy- 
ment." 

General Lee must have derived much pleasure from 
reading also the Thoughts of the Emperor Marcus Au- 
relius^ a copy of the second edition of which came from 
Professor George Long, another English admirer.| 

Mr. Valentine, the sculptor, treasured the following 
remark made by General Lee while in the artist's 
studio in Richmond, May, 1870: "Misfortune nobly 
borne is good fortune." This sentiment was so ap- 
propriate to the subject of their conversation that 
Mr. Valentine thought it was original with General 
Lee until sometime after his death. In after years this 
quotation was found in the Meditations of Marcus 

which surprised some of his friends who knew only of his military education." 
General Lee's son says that "even with Greek he seemed somewhat familiar 
and would question the students as to their knowledge of this language, 
much to their astonishment." 

* Reference is here made to Mr. Worsley's dedicatory poem, which was 
written on a fly leaf of this book. See page 105, supra. 

tThe expression, "The grand old bard," is taken from the first Hne of 
the beautiful poem in which Mr. Worsley dedicated his volume to General 
Lee. 

% It is interesting to note that Professor Long also sent with his book a 
message, expressing a hope that General Lee would "leave behind him some 
commentary to be placed on the same shelf with Caesar's." 



164 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

Aurelius. General Lee was so averse to every appear- 
ance of pedantry that he used this noble sentiment 
without giving the source from which it came.* 

Captain Lee gives us a further glimpse into his 
father's family circle by the statement that General 
Lee would often read to his invalid wife in the evenings. 

General Lee's private library after the war was 
very small, since the books left at Arlington had been 
scattered during hostilities. The meager salary, from 
which he supported his family and made liberal con- 
tributions to religious and charitable objects, evidently 
afforded little means for the purchase of new books for 
his own private library, though he bought "a collection 
of suitable books" for the library of the newly organized 
Y. M. C. A. of the college. His principal reliance for 
books while in Lexington was the small library of 
Washington College and the more important library 
of the Franklin Society.f Fortunately the manuscript 
records of both of these libraries for this period are 
still accessible, the Franklin Society library having 
been presented to Washington and Lee University a 
number of years ago. These records show that General 
Lee made constant use of both of these libraries, ex- 
cept in the summer months, from February, 1866, 
until December, i869.t 

* See Mr. Valentine's article in this volume. 

t The library of the Virginia Military Institute had been destroyed 
when the buildings were burned by General Hunter. 

X January 21, 1918, Dr. E. C. Gordon, who was librarian of Washington 
College in the late 6o's wrote: "He [General Lee] never talked with me about 
books, ... I do not recall ever seeing General Lee in the Library. I think, 



WHAT GENERAL LEE READ AFTER THE WAR 1 65 

The first library book he used after his removal to 
Lexington was Goldsmith's Rome.* It was read about 
the time, probably immediately after, he had finished 
reading Worsley's Iliad, referred to above. An ex- 
amination of this book will suggest reasons why it 
appealed to General Lee. Chapter I treats of the rise 
of Julius Caesar and the overthrow of the Roman 
Republic. Chapter II treats of the period of anarchy 
which followed Caesar's death and the final settlement 
of the constitution and the organization of the Empire 
under Augustus. Chapters III and IV contain many 
suggestive passages which would have appealed to ex- 
Confederates in the late 6o's, when they had many 
reasons to fear wholesale confiscation, disfranchisement 
and even the loss of life. He must have read and pon- 
dered many sentences like the following: "The most 
sacred rights of nature were violated; three hundred 
senators; and above two thousand knights were in- 
cluded in this terrible proscription; their fortunes were 

as a rule, he gave me lists of books he desired and I brought them to him or 
took them to his house. . . . He was, of course, a member of the Franklin 
Society. I never saw him at any of the meetings, held always on Saturday 
night; and I suspect he never attended; though now and then we discussed 
subjects in which he must have had some interest; e. g., this, ' Should Ameri- 
can colleges and universities open their doors to women?' The discussion of 
this ran through several successive meetings of the society and set the town 
by the ears. The truth is. General Lee was too busy, and his failing energies 
too much taxed to do a good deal of reading. I suspect most of the books he 
read bore on the two works which I think he would have liked to complete 
and publish: Memoirs of his father, and an account of his own campaign, 
or war-life." 

* It was Volume H of the edition of 1809, now in the library of Washington 
and Lee University. It seems that Volume I was never acquired by the 
Franklin Society. 



1 66 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

confiscated, and their murderers enriched with the 
spoil." (Page 38.) 

General Lee was reading this book when the clouds 
of Reconstruction had begun to appear above our 
political horizon. Was he studying the causes which 
led to the overthrow of the Roman Republic in an 
effort to see whether similar dangers were then threaten- 
ing his own country? Was he trying to get light from 
ancient history on the possible course of events in his 
own day.^" He could not then know, of course, that 
there was not another Augustus Caesar awaiting an 
opportunity to overthrow the liberties of his country. 
Perhaps he was testing his axiom, cited above: "It is 
history that teaches us to hope." 

In April or May, 1866, soon after his return from 
Washington, where he was examined by the Recon- 
struction Committee of Congress, he read the writings 
of Rev. Alex. B. Grosart, which he had received from 
the author, in Liverpool, England. This reading was 
only an act of courtesy, however. 

The second library book he used was the Memoirs 
of the Duchess UAbrantes (Madame Junot). Un- 
fortunately the particular volume which he read can- 
not now be found. The three- volume edition of this 
work now in the University library came as a gift from 
the library of Dr. Mercer of New Orleans.* Probably 
General Lee's interest in this book, came from his 
desire to write an account of his own campaigns. He 

* Dr. Gordon suggests: "After this one-volume copy was displaced by a 
three-volume copy from the Mercer library, it somehow disappeared." 



WHAT GENERAL LEE READ AFTER THE WAR 1 67 

may have examined it for the purpose of learning par- 
ticularly of the campaigns of Napoleon as treated by 
the wife of one of Napoleon's generals. On the other 
hand, he may have been interested in the conditions 
which produced this modern despot, as the book treats 
of the rise of Napoleon and the events leading to the 
establishment of his Empire. I do not think that there 
are any sentiments in the work which would have ap- 
pealed to a man of General Lee's character. We must 
note, however, that this was the beginning of a study 
of biography which extended through a period of al- 
most a year and a half. 

Several weeks later he was earnestly at work on his 
father's Memoirs^ as is shown by a letter of August 30, 
1866, in which he said among other things, "I have 
long wished to see some points in the chapter on Ser- 
geant Champe in the 'Memoirs' cleared up."* Then 
follows a discussion of sources and problems connected 
with the relations between Sergeant Champe and 
Benedict Arnold. This letter, which was written to 
Mr. William B. Reed, author of a Life of General Reed, 
closes with a request for "any facts tending to decide 
the matter." The biographical sketch of his father 
shows that he made liberal use of documents which 
he obtained from Mr. Reed. 

The third book, in chronological order, charged to 
General Lee on the library records, was Sparks' Wash- 
ington (volume omitted), which was taken out the 
day after he had written the letter just referred to. 

* This was Chapter XXX of the book he was editing. 



1 68 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

While he was devoting his brief and irregular periods 
of leisure to the study of history, his wife* and daugh- 
ters at Rockbridge Baths,t eleven miles distant, were 
doubtless reading the three books which followed on 
the record: Bleak Houses and Leo the Tenths Vols. Ill 
and IV. Shortly after Mrs. Lee's return home a 
volume of Hood's Works was also taken out of the 
library. 

In December, 1866, he took out Marshall's Washing- 
tony Vols. Ill, IV and V, and Sparks' Washington^ 
Vol. X, and American Constitution (edition not given). 
These books were all returned December 27 and 'Tp, 
This must have been the period of General Lee's most 
intense literary activity while in Lexington. It is 
worth recording that in this period he wrote a very 
notable letter to Lord Acton.} 
With the beginning of the new year (1867) he must 

*Mrs. Lee was fond of reading, and was "remarkably well read in general 
literature." Her son says that she was "constantly occupied with her 
books, letters, knitting and painting, for the last of which she had great 
talent." Mrs. Lee wrote a Memoir of her father, General George Washing- 
ton Parke Custis, which was published in Philadelphia (1859) in Custis' 
Recollections and Private Memoirs of Washington (pages 9-72). She also 
prepared the writings of her father for publication, as they appear in this 
volume under her copyright. The Washington and Lee University library 
now contains a copy of this work, on the fly leaf of which is the following, 
in the handwriting of Mrs. Lee: "The Franklin Library, from Mary Custis 
Lee. Lexington, 12th July, 1869." 

t Captain Lee says that "every summer of their life in Lexington" 
General Lee arranged that his wife " should spend several months at one of 
the many medicinal springs in the neighboring mountains, as much that 
she might be surrounded by new scenes and faces as for the benefit of the 
waters. " 

X This letter will be found in the Appendix to this volume. 



WHAT GENERAL LEE READ AFTER THE WAR 169 

have been busy with college duties, as the library record 
shows that he did not resume his literary work until 
February 1 9. He then took out of the library Wal burn's 
Biographical Dictionary and a Gazetteer of the United 
States (edition not given). March 14, he turned his 
attention to Ramsey's American Revolution^ Vols. I 
and II, and later (March 30) to Henning's Statutes. 
About this time he wrote that he had received "from 
Fitz Lee a narrative of the operations of his division 
of cavalry," and he asked his son. General W. H. F. 
Lee, for a full report of his war operations. These 
glimpses give us the picture of a busy college executive 
utilizing his small fragments of spare time at work on 
his twofold literary task. 

Up to this time he had made use of the Franklin 
Society library exclusively. During the next two years 
he used books only from the college library, not re- 
turning to the Franklin Society library until February 
24, 1869. 

April 3, 1867, he found diversion in a copy of Cal- 
culus, his first choice of books from the college library. 
Three weeks later he procured from the same source a 
copy of Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, which as 
far as the record shows was not returned. 

In July and August of that year he was at White 
Sulphur and Old Sweet Springs with his family, pri- 
marily for his wife's health. At the latter place he 
was taken ill. This prevented his return to Lexington 
until the middle of September, just before the opening 
of the session. He wrote to one of his sons (September 



I70 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

20): "I am still so feeble that I cannot attend to the 
business of the college." A month later (October 25) 
he wrote: "I have been quite sick but am better now." 
Yet, a fortnight before this latter date he had returned 
to his literary task, using Marshall's Life oj Washington^ 
Vols. Ill, IV and V. With the return of these three 
volumes (November 14) I find no evidence from the 
library record of any further serious study on his part, 
though he did not send the "Biography" of his father 
and the notes to the volume he was editing to the press 
until June i, 1869, judging by the date of the Preface. 

The Christmas season of 1867 found only two 
library books in his home. These were Goldsmith's 
Vicar of Wakefield and Bunyan's Pilgrim s Progress. 
What appropriate selections for Christmas reading! 
One wonders whether the General still read aloud to 
his family "in the long evenings" of that winter, as he 
had done in other years. 

As intimated above, there was a marked change in 
the character of his reading after 1867. From that 
date he used no more library books on American his- 
tory or biography. Poetry, choice fiction, current 
magazines and European history fill the remainder of 
the library record. Did he regard his recent sickness 
as an evidence of failing strength and a warning that 
his literary activity must cease .^ Possibly so, though 
Captain Lee felt sure that by the latter part of January 
his father "had fully recovered." It is more probable 
that this change from his own unfinished task was 
prompted by the literary tastes of his invalid wife, who 



WHAT GENERAL LEE READ AFTER THE WAR 171 

as he said, suffered that winter and spring "more 
than usual . . . from her rheumatic pains." His 
son. Captain Lee, tells us: "He sat with her daily, 
entertaining her with accounts of what was doing in 
the college, and the news of the village, and would 
often read to her in the evenings." 

The college library contributed, January 7, 1868, 
two large illustrated volumes oi Favorite English Poems * 
to the entertainment of the household. These books, 
still in the university library, are "illustrated with 
300 engravings on wood." Volume I contains a col- 
lection of choice poems from Chaucer to Pope, Volume 
II, from "Thomson to Tennyson." That they were 
read with interest in indicated by the fact that they 
were renewed January 24 and were kept out until 
February 11. Robinson Crusoe then came in for a six 
days' reading, perhaps by General Lee's little niece, 
who was a member of his household that session. 

But General Lee was a man of action, and books 
alone could not supply the recreation he needed. He 
wrote (March 10): "Our winter which has been long 
and cold I hope now is over," adding "My only pleas- 
ure is in my solitary evening rides, which give me 
abundant opportunity for quiet thought." Within a 
fortnight he was able to write that two or three rides 
on Traveller "in the mud" had, he thought, benefited 
him. 

About this time (March 28), he received from the 

* The entry on the record, "Favorite Poets of England, 111., 2 vols.," is 
evidently a mistake, as there were no books with that title in the library. 



172 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

library a two-volume edition of the Lije of Goethe to be 
followed, two days later, by a copy of Faust. All of 
these were returned May 4. He then read, with much 
interest, I am sure, the first volume of Dr. Kane's 
Arctic Expedition. Probably the author, who saw 
service as an army surgeon in the Mexican War, was a 
personal acquaintance. The last library book used 
that spring was a volume of Shakespeare's Works 
(edition not given). As there were then four editions 
of Shakespeare in the college library, it is impossible 
to say which plays of that great author were read. 

In the summer of 1868, he made another effort to 
find recreation and restoration of health for his invalid 
wife at some of the many celebrated health resorts 
near Lexington. Additional cares also came with the 
sickness of his daughter, Mildred, who had typhoid 
fever while at Warm Springs. He nursed her back to 
health in time to return to Lexington for the opening 
of the session of 1868-9. 

Then followed a period of over six months in which 
he read nothing from the library, except current maga- 
zines, three issues of the New Eclectic * and nine of 
Blackwood's Magazines. \ In the August (1868) New 
Eclectic, he found a criticism of George Bancroft's 
theory as set forth in his History of the United States 

* Issues of August, September and October, 1868, which were taken out 
October 14 and returned November 14. 

t Issues of February, April, May, July, August, September and October 
(1868), which were taken out December 17 and returned January 13, fol- 
lowing. The issues for December (1868) and January (1869), were taken 
out in January and February respectively. 



WHAT GENERAL LEE READ AFTER THE WAR 173 

that the influence of the Cavalier element in Virginia 
was insignificant on the events leading to the American 
Revolution. The critic indorsed the view of Mr. 
Rives in his Life of James Madison that many leaders 
of the Revolution in Virginia were descendants of the 
loyal supporters of Charles I against the Long Par- 
liament, among whom were the first cousin of Wash- 
ington's grandfather, the paternal ancestor of George 
Mason, the ancestors of Archibald Cary, the Lees, the 
Blands, the Carters, the Randolphs, the Digges, the 
Byrds, etc. This issue also contains Father Ryan's 
poem on "The Downtrodden Land." The September 
New Eclectic has articles on "Free Religion" and 
"Luther and Germany." The October issue of this 
same magazine contains articles on "The Northern 
and the Southern Poet" (Oliver Wendell Holmes and 
Father Ryan), "The Unsettled State of Europe" 
and a poem by Sidney Lanier, entitled "Life and 
Song." 

Blackwood's Magazine for September, 1868, was 
taken out November 14 and "returned" (date not 
given). Then, December 17, it was taken out again 
with six other issues of the same magazine. In Janu- 
ary, 1869, he also took out the December issue and in 
February the January issue of the same magazine. It 
is evident from an examination of the contents of these 
issues that the reader was interested in only one article, 
since it appeared by installments in the copies taken 
from the library. Other copies, those of March, June 
and November, 1868, would also have been taken, 



174 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

if he had cared to read the magazines in chronological 
order, without reference to any particular article. 
This article is entitled "Historical Sketches of the 
Reign of George II." A perusal of it will convince one 
of the importance of this somewhat neglected period 
of English history, and of the excellence of the literary 
taste of a reader who finds pleasure in it. The sub-title 
of the first installment is "The Queen" (Caroline); of 
the second, "The Minister" (Sir Robert Walpole); of 
the third, "The Man of the Worid" (Lord Chester- 
field); of the fourth, "Lady Mary Wortley Montagu"; 
of the fifth, "The Poet" (Pope); of the sixth "The 
Young Chevalier" (Charles Stuart, the Pretender); 
of the seventh, "The Reformer" (John Wesley); of 
the eighth, "The Sailor" (Admiral Anson); of the 
ninth, "The Philosopher" (Bishop Berkeley). The 
issues for March, June, and August, 1869, in which 
appeared the remainder of the series, on "The Novelist" 
(Samuel Richardson); "The Sceptic" (David Hume); 
"The Painter" (Hogarth), do not appear on General 
Lee's library record. 

Four days after taking out the issue of Blackwood's 
which contains the sketch of Admiral Anson, he turned 
to the fifth volume of Macaulay's England. This 
choice shows that, though still interested in English 
history, the reader went from the reign of George II 
back to the last days of William III. Eight days later 
this book was returned. 

A book entitled ^eens of the Country then 
follows on the record (March 7). It was probably 



WHAT GENERAL LEE READ AFTER THE WAR 175 

Mrs. Jameson's Memoirs of Celebrated Female Sov- 
ereigns^ since this is the only volume now in the 
University library, whose title resembles that given 
in the record. This volume may have been chosen 
for its sketch of Queen Anne, in order to link together 
the periods of English history which had already re- 
ceived attention. 

The remainder of the spring of 1869 was devoted to 
French history. From March 15 to April 4 use was 
made of volumes i and 1 of Miss Pardoe's Louis XIV; 
April 7 to June 19, of Beauchesne's Louis the Seven- 
teenth. Meantime Houssaye's Men and Women of the 
Eighteenth Century^ Vol. II (French biography), had 
been used from May 2 to June 2. Interest in 
French history was undoubtedly aroused by the then 
strained relations between France and her northern 
neighbor, which soon culminated in the Franco- 
Prussian War. 

That summer General Lee was at home until after 
the middle of July to attend a meeting of the Virginia 
Education Association, which was held in Lexington. 
In the latter part of that month he took Mrs. Lee to 
Rockbridge Baths, which she had "made up her mind 
to visit." "After seeing her comfortably located" he 
expected to go with two of his daughters to the White 
Sulphur Springs for a few weeks, on the advice of his 
physicians. He wrote to his son, General W. H. F. Lee, 
"I am obliged now to consider my health." The sud- 
den death of his brother upset his plans while at Rock- 
bridge Baths. This took him to Alexandria to attend 



176 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

the funeral. He decided to return to Lexington by 
way of Richmond, making a short visit to his son at 
the "White House" on the James River. August lo, 
he wrote to his wife from White Sulphur Springs, giving 
his objections to the plan of the publisher of his father's 
Memoirs to insert a portrait of himself in the volume 
and asking for her "suggestions." By the end of 
August he was back in Lexington. That autumn his 
rides on Traveller were less frequent and more fa- 
tiguing, and there were other evidences that his strength 
was failing. In November he contracted a severe 
cold, which was the beginning of the attack that was 
to prove fatal. In December he wrote that he was 
better, adding "The doctors still have me in hand, 
but I fear can do no good." In fact, he seemed to realize 
from the beginning that this attack was mortal. 

Under these circumstances, one would not expect to 
find evidence of extensive reading. Yet on November 
20 two issues of Blackwood' s Magazine were brought 
to his sick room. One of these, the issue of July, 1864, 
contained articles on "The Education and Training 
of Naval Officers" and "The Napoleonic Idea in 
Mexico." The other, the issue for January, i860, 
contained an article on "Rambles at Random in the 
Southern States," which gives the observations of 
an English traveler of keen though sympathetic 
mind, who had spent some time in the South before 
the war. 

Here the library record closes. It reveals the fact 
that his library reading, during his five years in Lex- 



WHAT GENERAL LEE READ AFTER THE WAR 177 

ington, which had carried him into many countries 
and into different periods of history and literature 
ended with a delightful article on his own beloved 
Southland. 

This sketch would fall far short of a true presentation 
of what General Lee read after the war, if it should 
omit his two favorite books, which he always kept in 
his small private library, and which were in constant 
use. These were the Episcopal prayer book and the 
Bible. His appreciation of his prayer book is shown 
by his desire to supply copies to the soldiers who 
wished for them, and his present of a dozen copies, — 
all he had, save one, to as many soldiers. One 
of his sons says that "family prayers . . . were 
read every morning just before breakfast," which 
was served at seven o'clock, and another son warned 
his wife that "to please his father, she must be always 
ready for family prayers." His daughter-in-law said 
that "she did not believe that General Lee would have 
an entirely high opinion of any person, even General 
Washington, if he could return to earth, if he were not 
ready for prayers!" 

But the greatest of all books in his estimation was 
the Bible. Upon appropriate occasions, he quoted its 
precepts, but never in the spirit of cant. In reproof 
of a minister who had said harsh things about the 
North in connection with General Lee's indictment 
for treason, he said: "Doctor, there is a good book, 
which I read and you preach from, which says: 'Love 
your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to 



178 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

them that hate you and pray for them that despite- 
fully use you.*" 

During the war, "even amid his most active cam- 
paigns, he found time to read every day some portion 
of God's Word." The habit, followed so tenaciously 
on the field, was never given up in the quietude of the 
home; for he could then have his "regular seasons for 
this delightful exercise." His appreciation of the 
Bible was shown by his interest in the Rockbridge 
County Bible Society, of which he was president from 
the time of its reorganization after the war (1868), 
until his death. In his letter, accepting this position, 
he spoke of his desire to help extend " the inestimable 
knowledge of the priceless truths. of the Bible." In 
acknowledging the receipt of a Bible from some English 
admirers he referred to it as "a book in comparison 
with which all others in my eyes are of minor im- 
portance, and which in all my perplexities and dis- 
tresses has never failed to give me light and strength." 
In a letter acknowledging the receipt of a beautiful 
Bible for use in the college chapel he said, "it is a 
book which supplies the place of all others, and one 
that cannot be replaced by any other." The day 
after his death a watcher by his body noticed on the 
table "a well-used pocket Bible, in which was 
written, . . . *R. E. Lee, Lieutenant-colonel, U. S. 
Army.'"* He says: "As I turned its leaves and 
saw how he had marked many passages, especially 

* See Dr. J. William Jones' article in this volume on "The Christian 
Character of Robert E. Lee. " 



WHAT GENERAL LEE READ AFTER THE WAR 179 

those teaching the great doctrines of Salvation by- 
Grace, Justification by Faith, or those giving the 
more precious promises to the believer, I thought of 
how, with simple faith, he took this blessed Book as 
the man of his counsel and the light of his pathway; 
how its precious promises cheered him amid the afflic- 
tions and trials of his eventful life; and how its glorious 
hopes illuminated for him the 'valley and shadow of 
death.'" 



APPENDIX 

Books taken by General Robert E. Lee from the Franklin Society Library 
and the Washington College Library. 
* — Franklin Society Library, f — Washington College Library. 

Date Taken Out Titles Date Returned 

1866 

* Feb. 20th Goldsmith's Rome Apr. 4th 

* June 5th Madame D'Abrantes July ist 

* Sept. 1st Sparks' Washington Jan. 4, 1867 

* Sept. I2th Bleak House Nov. 10, 1866 

* Sept. 24th Leo the Tenth, Vols. 3 and 4 Nov. 10, 1866 

* Nov. loth Hood's Works Nov. 19, 1866 

* Dec. 1st Marshall's Washington, Vol. 3 Dec. 30, 1866 

* Dec. 6th Marshall's Washington, Vols. 4 and S ... .Dec. 30, 1866 

* Dec. 22nd Sparks' Washington, Vol. 10 Dec. 27, 1866 

* Dec. 22nd American Constitutions Dec. 27, i866 



l8o GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

Date Taken Out Titles Date Returned 

1867 

* Feb. 19th Walburn's Biographical Dictionary Mch. 9, 1867 

* Feb. 19th Gazetteer of the United States Mch. 9, 1867 

* Mch. 14th Ramsey's American Revolution, Vols, i & 2.Mch. 23, 1867 

* Mch. 30th Henning's Statutes Apr. 4, 1867 

t Apr. 3rd Calculus May 16, 1867 

t May i6th Webster's Dictionary, unabridged 

* Oct. 1 2th Marshall's Life of Washington, Vols. 3, 

4 and 5 Nov. 14, 1867 

t Dec. 13th Goldsmith's Vicar of Wakefield Jan. 10, 1868 

t Dec. 13th Pilgrim's Progress Jan. 24, 1868 

1868 

t Jan. 7th Favorite Poets of England. 111. 2 Vols — Jan. 24, 1868 

t Jan. 24th Favorite Poets of England. 111. 2 Vols Feb. 11, 1868 

t Feb. nth Robinson Crusoe Feb. 17, 1868 

t Mch. 28th Life of Goethe, 2 vols May 4, 1868 

t Dr. Kane's Arctic Expedition. Vol i June 3, 1868 

t May 6th Shakespeare, III 

fOct. 14th New Eclectic, Aug., Sept., Oct., 1868. . ..Nov. 14, 1868 

t Nov. 14th Blackwood's for September " Returned" 

t Dec. 17th Blackwood's for Feb., Apr., May, July, 

Aug., Sept., and Oct Jan. 13, 1869 

1869 

t Jan. 13th Blackwood's for December "Returned" 

t Feb. 20th Blackwood's for Jan Mch. 4, 1869 

* Feb. 24th Macaulay's Eng., Vol. 5 Mch. 3, 1869 

* Mch. 7th Queens of the Country Mch. 15, 1869 

*Mch. ijth Louis XIV., Vols, i and 2 Apr. 4, 1869 

* Apr. 7th Louis Napoleon and His Times May 6, 1869 



WHAT GENERAL LEE READ AFTER THE WAR l8l 

Date Taken Out Title Date Returned 

1869 

* May 8th Louis the Seventeenth June 19, 1869 

* May 2nd Women of the Eighteenth Century 

Vol. 2 June 2, 1869 

* Nov. 20th Blackwood's for July, 1864 Dec. 15, 1869 

* Nov. 20th Blackwood's for January, i860 Dec. 15, 1869 



THE CHRISTIAN CHARACTER OF ROBERT E. 

LEE. 

By Rev. J. William Jones 

This contribution appeared in the "Lee Memorial Number" of the fFake 
Forest Student, published in January, 1907. — Editor. 

THERE is a natural tendency to conceal the 
faults and exalt the virtues of great men. 
Those whose lives gave no evidence whatever 
of Christian or even moral character have been written 
up, by their eulogists, as saints whom the world should 
warmly admire if not worship. There have been in 
these later years some very sad examples of this, which 
might be cited if it were proper to do so. This makes 
intelligent readers disposed to receive cum grano salts 
what may be said of the Christian character of any 
puMic man. 

Some years ago an intelligent minister in one of 
our Southern States wrote an elaborate article in one 
of the papers on the question: "Was General R. E. 
Lee a real Christian?" He seriously doubted whether 
he was more than a mere formal professor of religion. 
Now I think I can answer this question from intimate 
personal acquaintance and observation. During the 
four years of the great War between the States, as 
private soldier or as chaplain, I followed the standard 



THE CHRISTIAN CHARACTER OF ROBERT E. LEE 183 

of Lee, coming into somewhat frequent contact with 
him, and learning much of his character and 
actions. 

But especially during his five years' life in Lexington, 
Virginia, as one of the chaplains of Washington Col- 
lege, over which he presided, I came into almost daily 
and intimate association with him, and learned to 
know and love the great soldier as a humble, conse- 
crated follower of the Captain of our Salvation. 

I speak, therefore, not from hearsay, or the state- 
ments of others, but I speak from intimate personal 
acquaintance when I write on the Christian character 
of Robert Edward Lee, the greatest soldier of history, 
and the model man of the centuries. 

I can never forget my first interview and conversa- 
tion with General Lee on religious matters. It was in 
1863, while our army was resting along the Rapidan, 
soon after the Gettysburg campaign. Rev. B. T. Lacy 
and myself went, as a committee of our chaplains* 
association, to consult him in reference to the better 
observance of the Sabbath in the army, and especially 
to urge that something be done to prevent irreligious 
officers from converting Sunday into a grand gala-day 
for inspections, reviews, etc. It was a delicate mission. 
We did not wish to appear as either informers or 
officious intermeddlers, and yet we were very anxious 
to do something to further the wishes of those who 
sent us, and to put a stop to what was then a growing 
evil, and, in some commands, a serious obstacle to 
efficient work of the chaplain. The cordial greeting 



1 84 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

which he gave us, the marked courtesy and respect with 
which he listened to what we had to say, and the way 
he expressed his warm sympathy with the object of 
our mission, soon put us at ease. But, as we presently 
began to answer his questions concerning the spiritual 
interests of the army, and to tell of that great revival 
which was then extending through the camps, and 
bringing thousands of our noble men to Christ, we 
saw his eye brighten and his whole countenance glow 
with pleasure; and as, in his simple, feeling words, he 
expressed his delight, we forgot the great warrior, and 
only remembered that we were communing with a 
humble, earnest Christian. When Mr. Lacy told him 
of the deep interest which the chaplains felt in his 
welfare, and that their most fervent prayers were 
offered in his behalf, tears started in his eyes, as he 
replied, "I sincerely thank you for that, and I can 
only say that I am just a poor sinner, trusting in Christ 
alone for salvation, and that I need all the prayers 
you can offer for me." 

The next day he issued a beautiful order in which he 
enjoined the observance of the Sabbath, and that all 
military duties should be suspended on that day except 
such as were absolutely necessary to the safety or 
subsistence of the army. 

General Lee always took the deepest interest in the 
work of his chaplains and the spiritual welfare of his 
men. He was a frequent visitor at the chaplains' 
meetings, and a deeply interested observer of their 
proceedings; and the faithful chaplain who stuck to 



THE CHRISTIAN CHARACTER OF ROBERT E. LEE 1 85 

his post and did his duty could always be assured of a 
warm friend at headquarters. 

While the Army of Northern Virginia confronted 
General Meade at Mine Run, near the end of Novem- 
ber, 1863, and a battle was momentarily expected. 
General Lee, with a number of general and staff officers, 
was riding down his line of battle, when, just in the 
rear of Gen. A. P. Hill's position, the cavalcade sud- 
denly came upon a party of soldiers engaged in one of 
those prayer-meetings which they so often held on the 
eve of battle. An attack from the enemy seemed im- 
minent; already sharpshooting along the skirmish 
line had begun, the artillery was belching forth its 
hoarse thunder, and the mind and heart of the great 
chieftain were full of the expected combat. Yet, as 
he saw the ragged veterans bowed in prayer, he in- 
stantly dismounted, uncovered his head, and devoutly 
joined in the simple worship. The rest of the party 
at once followed his example, and those humble privates 
found themselves leading the devotions of their loved 
and honored chieftains. 

It is related that as his army was crossing the James, 
in 1864, and hurrying on to the defense of Petersburg, 
General Lee turned aside from the road, and, kneeling 
in the dust, devoutly joined a minister in earnest 
prayer that God would give him wisdom and grace 
in the new stage of the campaign upon which he was 
then entering. 

I was one day distributing tracts and religious news- 
papers in our trenches below Petersburg when I noticed 



1 86 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

a brilliant cavalcade approaching. Generals Lee, 
A. P. Hill, and John B. Gordon, with their stajffs, were 
inspecting our lines, and reconnoitering those of the 
enemy. I stepped to one side, expecting simply to 
give them the military salute as they passed. But the 
quick eye of Gordon recognized me, and his cordial 
grasp detained me as he eagerly inquired after my work. 
General Lee reined in his horse, the others also stopped, 
and the humble chaplain found himself surrounded 
by a group of whose notice he might well be proud. 
A. P. Hill, my old colonel and life-long friend, said: 
"John (as he always familiarly addressed me), don't 
you think the boys would prefer 'hard-tacks' to tracts 
just now.''" "I have no doubt that many of them 
would," I replied, "but they crowd around and take 
the tracts as eagerly as they surround the commissary 
when he has anything to 'issue'; and besides other 
advantages, the tracts certainly help them to bear 
the lack of 'hard-tack.'" "I have no doubt of it," 
he said, "and I am glad that you are able to 
supply the tracts more abundantly then we can the 
rations." 

General Lee joined in the conversation, and pres- 
ently asked if I ever had calls for prayer books. I 
told him that I frequently had, and often distributed 
them. He replied, "Well, you would greatly oblige 
me if you would call at my quarters, and get and dis- 
tribute a few which I have. I bought a new one when 
in Richmond the other day, and upon my saying that 
I would give my old one, which I had carried through 



THE CHRISTIAN CHARACTER OF ROBERT E. LEE 187 

the Mexican war and kept ever since, to some soldier, 
the bookseller offered to give me a dozen new prayer 
books for the old one. I accepted, of course, so good 
an offer, and now I have a dozen to give away instead 
of one." The cavalcade rode away, and the chaplain 
felt a new inspiration in his work. 

I called at headquarters at the appointed hour. The 
General was absent on some important duty, but he 
had (even amid his pressing cares and responsibilities) 
left the prayer books with a member of his staff, with 
directions concerning them. In each one he had 
written in his well-known handwriting, "Presented 
to ... by R. E. Lee." Had I been disposed to 
speculate I could easily have sold these books, contain- 
ing the autograph of our great chieftain, for a large sum, 
or have traded each for a dozen others. I know that 
the soldiers to whom I gave them have treasured them 
as precious mementos, or handed them down as price- 
less heirlooms. I saw one of these books several years 
ago in the hands of a son whose father was killed on 
the retreat from Petersburg. It was not for sale. In- 
deed, money could not buy it. 

I could fill pages with quotations from General 
Lee's orders and dispatches, expressing his "profound 
gratitude to Almighty God" — his "thanks to God" — 
his "gratitude to Him who hath given us the victory" 
— his sense of "the blessing of Almighty God" — his 
"grateful thanks to the only Giver of victory" — and 
his "ascribing unto the Lord of Hosts the glory due 
unto His name." And I regret that my space will not 



1 88 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

allow me to quote in full his beautiful Thanksgiving- 
day, and fast-day orders, which breathed the spirit of 
the humble, devout Christian, and were not mere 
official proclamations. But as a specimen of them I 
quote the conclusion of his order for the observance 
of the 2ist of August, 1863, after the Gettysburg cam- 
paign, as a day of "fasting, humiliation and prayer." 
He says: 

"Soldiers! we have sinned against Almighty God. We have for- 
gotten His signal mercies, and have cultivated a revengeful, haughty, 
and boastful spirit. We have not remembered that the defenders of 
a just cause should be pure in His eyes; that our times are in His 
hands, and we have relied too much on our own arms for the achieve- 
ment of our independence. God is our only refuge and our strength. 
Let us humble ourselves before Him. Let us confess our many sins 
and beseech Him to give us a higher courage, a purer patriotism, and 
a more determined will; that He will convert the hearts of our 
enemies; that He will hasten the time when war, with its sorrows and 
sufferings, shall cease, and that He will give us a name and place 
among the nations of the earth. 

"R. E. Lee, General." 

He was emphatically a man of prayer, was ac- 
customed to have family prayers, and had his season 
of secret prayer which he allowed nothing to interrupt. 
He was a devout and constant Bible reader, and found 
time to read the old book even amid his most pressing 
duties. He became president of the Rockbridge County 
Bible Society, and in his letter of acceptance spoke of 
"the inestimable knowledge of the priceless truths of 
the Bible." 

In a letter to Hon. A. W. Beresford Hope, acknowl- 
edging the receipt of a Bible from friends in England, 



THE CHRISTIAN CHARACTER OF ROBERT E. LEE 189 

he speaks of it as "a book in comparison with which 
all others in my eyes are of minor importance, and 
which in all my perplexities and distresses has never 
failed to give me light and strength." In a letter to 
Col. F. R. Farrar, who presented a Bible to the college 
chapel, he speaks of it as "a book which supplies the 
place of all others, and one that cannot be replaced 
by any other." 

As I was watching all alone by his body the day 
after his death I picked up from the table a well-used 
pocket Bible, on the fly-leaf of which was written in 
his well-known and characteristic chirography, "R. E. 
Lee, Lieutenant Colonel, U. S. A." As I turned its 
leaves and saw how he had marked many passages, 
especially those teaching the great doctrines of Salva- 
tion by Grace, Justification by Faith, or those giving 
the more precious promises to the believer, I thought 
of how, with simple faith, he took this blessed book as 
the man of his counsel and the light of his pathway; 
how its precious promises cheered him amid the afflic- 
tions and trials of his eventful life; and how its glorious 
hopes illumined for him the "valley and shadow of 
death." 

He was a very "son of consolation" to the afflicted, 
and his letters of this character were very numerous 
and very beautiful. I can give only several specimens. 
On the death of Bishop Elliott of Georgia, he wrote his 
wife a touching eulogy on one "whom for more than 
a quarter of a century I have admired, loved and 
venerated," and concluded by saying, "You have my 



190 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

deepest sympathy, and my earnest prayers are offered 
to Almighty God that He may be graciously pleased 
to comfort you in your great sorrow, and bring you 
in His own good time to rejoice with him whom in 
His all-wise providence He has called before you to 
heaven." 

To the widow of Gen. Geo. W. Randolph he wrote 
on the death of her husband: 

"It is the survivors of the sad event whom I com- 
miserate, and not him whom a gracious God has called 
to Himself; and whose tender heart and domestic 
virtues make the pang of parting the more bitter to 
those who are left behind. . . . For what other 
purpose can a righteous man be summoned into the 
presence of a merciful God than to receive his reward? 
However, then, we lament we ought not to deplore 
him, or wish him back from his peaceful, happy home. 
. . . Mrs. Lee and my daughters, while they join 
in unfeigning sorrow for your bereavement, unite 
with me in sincere regards, and fervent prayers to 
Him who can alone afford relief, for His gracious sup- 
port, and continued protection to you. May his 
abundant mercies be showered upon you, and may 
His almighty arm guide and uphold you." 

He wrote Rev. Dr. Moses D. Hoge, of Richmond, 
Va., the great Presbyterian preacher, after speaking 
of matters connected with the Virginia Bible Society, 
the following concerning the death of his wife: 

"And now, my dear sir, though perhaps inappropriate to the 
occasion, you must allow me to refer to a subject which has caused 



THE CHRISTIAN CHARACTER OF ROBERT E. LEE 191 

me great distress and concerning which I have desired to write ever 
since its occurrence; but to tell the truth I have not had the heart 
to do so. I knew how powerless I was to give any relief and how 
utterly inadequate was any language that I could use even to miti- 
gate your suffering. I could, therefore, only offer up my silent 
prayers, to Him who alone can heal your bleeding heart that in 
His infinite mercy He will be ever present with you; to dry your 
tears and staunch your wounds; to sustain you by His grace and 
support you by His strength. I hope you felt assured that in this 
heavy calamity, you and your children had the heartfelt sympathy 
of Mrs. Lee and myself, and that you were daily remembered in our 
prayers. 

"With best wishes and sincere affection, I am very truly yours, 

"R.E.Lee." 



General Lee did not believe in forcing the students 
to attend chapel, but sought to influence them to do 
so, and I have known no other college where the simple 
exercises — singing, reading the Scriptures, and prayer — 
seemed to be so warmly appreciated or so thoroughly 
enjoyed. 

At the faculty meeting one day a member of the 
faculty, who rarely attended himself, made an elo- 
quent speech on the importance of inducing the stu- 
dents to attend chapel, and when he closed General 
Lee quietly remarked, "The best way that I know of 
to induce students to attend is to set them the example 
by always attending ourselves." 

Accordingly, his own seat, near the front, was always 
filled. I never knew a college president to exert him- 
self more actively for the religious good of the students 
than did General Lee. I give herewith one of the 
letters he was accustomed to address to the pastors of 
Lexington, asking their co-operation: 



192 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

Washington College, 
Lexington, Virginia, nth September, 1869. 

Rev. and Dear Sirs: — Desirous of making the religious exercises 
of the College advantageous to the students, and wishing to use all 
means to inculcate among them the principles of true religion, the 
Faculty tender to you their cordial thanks for your past services, 
and request you to perform in rotation the customary daily exer- 
cises at the College Chapel. The hour fixed for these services is 
forty-five minutes past seven o'clock every morning, except Sunday, 
during the session, save the three winter months, December, January 
and February, when the hour for prayer will be forty-five minutes 
past eight. The hours for lectures are fixed at eight and nine o'clock 
respectively during these periods. On Sundays the hour for prayer 
during the whole session is fixed at nine o'clock. 

The Faculty also request that you will extend to the students a 
general invitation to attend the churches of their choice regularly on 
Sundays, and other days, and invite them to join the Bible classes 
established in each; that you will, as may be convenient and neces- 
sary, visit them in sickness and in health; and that you will in every 
proper manner urge upon them the great importance of the Christain 
religion. 

The Faculty further ask that you will arrange among yourselves, 
as may be convenient, the periods of the session during which each 
will perform the Chapel services, and that during those periods the 
officiating minister will consider himself Chaplain of the College for 
the purpose of conducting religious worship, prayers, etc. 

The present session will open on the i6th, inst. and close on the 
25th June, 1870. 

I am, with great respect, your obedient servant, 

R. E. Lee. 

To the Ministers of the Baptist, Episcopal, Methodist and Presbyte- 
rian Churches of Lexington, Va. 

I prize beyond price the following autograph letter: 



Washington College, 
Lexington, Virginia, 4th March, 1868. 

My Dear Sir: — I enclose fifty dollars of the fund contributed by 
the Faculty and students for the religious exercises of the College, 



THE CHRISTIAN CHARACTER OF ROBERT E. LEE 193 

not in compensation for your voluntary services, but in grateful 
testimony of them. 

With great respect, your obedient servant, 

R. E. Lee. 
Rev. J. Wm. Jones. 

He wrote similar letters to the other pastors of the 
town, and frequently talked with us about the religious 
interest of the students. He was accustomed to make 
lists of the denominational preferences of the students, 
giving each pastor a list of the members of his church, 
and of the men whose parents belonged to his church, 
and would ask him afterwards if he had visited them, 
and if they attended his Bible class and his church, and 
thus he would seek to promote the interests of each 
student. 

He said to Rev. Dr. W. S. White soon after coming 
to Lexington: "I shall be disappointed, sir, I shall 
fail in the leading object that brought me here, unless 
these young men become real Christians, and I wish 
you and others of your sacred calling to do all in your 
power to accomplish this." 

He said to Rev. Dr. Brown, one of the trustees of 
the college, "I dread the thought of any student going 
away from the college without becoming a sincere 
Christian." 

At the "Concert of Prayer for Colleges" in 1869 I 
made an address in which I urged that the great need 
of our colleges was a genuine, all-pervasive revival, 
which could only come from above by the power of 
the Holy Spirit. At the close of the meeting General 
Lee came to me, and said with more than his usual 



194 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

warmth, "I wish, sir, to thank you for your address; 
it was just what we needed. Our great want is a re- 
vival that shall bring these young men to Christ." 

During the great revival in the Virginia Military 
Institute in 1869, when there were over one hundred 
professions of faith in Christ, he said to me with deep 
emotion, "That is the best news I have heard since 
I have been in Lexington. Would that we could have 
such a revival in our college, and in all of the colleges." 

He said to Rev. Dr. Kirkpatrick, the able and honored 
professor of moral philosophy in the college, when 
they were conversing about the religious interests of 
the students, his voice choking with emotion and his 
eyes overflowing with tears, "Oh! Doctor, if I could only 
know that all of the young men in the college were good 
Christians, I should have nothing more to desire." 

He sent for me one day to consult about organizing 
a Y. M. C. A. in the college, and after we had organized 
it he took the liveliest interest in its success, and con- 
tributed to it every year ^50 from his own scant re- 
sources. With the first money that he raised after he 
went to the college he built a substantial and beautiful 
chapel, as, in his judgment, the most important build- 
ing needed (more important than a president's house, 
he insisted), and it seems a fortunate providence that 
he lies beneath that chapel, which he builded almost 
with his own hands, for he almost saw every block of 
granite placed in position, every brick laid, and every 
nail driven. 

General Lee was an Episcopalian, and sincerely 




'*w 




Exterior View of the Lee Memorial Chapel 

Interior View of the Lee Memorial Chapel, Showing the Recumbent 

Statue 



THE CHRISTIAN CHARACTER OF ROBERT E. LEE 195 

attached to the church of his choice, but his large heart 
took in Christians of every name, and not a few will 
cordially indorse the remarks made by the venerable 
Dr. W. S. White, — Stonewall Jackson's old pastor, — 
who said with deep feeling during the memorial serv- 
ices, "He belonged to one branch of the church, and I 
to another. Yet in my intercourse with him — an 
intercourse rendered far more frequent and intimate 
by the tender sympathy he felt in my ill health — the 
thought never occurred to me that we belonged to 
different churches. His love for the truth, and for all 
that is good and useful, was such as to render his 
brotherly kindness and charity as boundless as were 
the wants and sorrows of the race." 

If I have ever come in contact with a sincere, devout 
Christian — one who, seeing himself to be a sinner, 
trusted alone in the merits of Christ — who humbly 
tried to walk the path of duty, "looking unto Jesus, 
the author and finisher of our faith," and whose piety 
was constantly exemplified in his daily life, that man 
was the world's great soldier, and model man, Robert 
Edward Lee. 

His illness was of such a character that he left no 
"last words," but none were needed — his whole life 
was "a living epistle" known and read of men, and 
there can be no doubt that he laid aside his cross and 
went to wear his crown — 

"That crown with peerless glories bright. 

Which shall new luster boast 
When victors' wreathes and monarchs' gems 

Shall blend in common dust!" 



TRIBUTE TO GENERAL LEE AS A MAN 

By Mr. Wm. A. Anderson, Rector of Washington and Lee 

University 

Extract from remarks made at a banquet at Washington and Lee Uni- 
versity upon the Centennial of the birth of Robert E. Lee, January 19th, 
1907. 

WE have presented to us here to-day a striking 
and most gratifying evidence of the restora- 
tion of good feeling between the sections in 
the pilgrimage to this Mecca of the South of a dis- 
tinguished son of Massachusetts who worthily bears a 
name honored and illustrious in the history of our 
country, through five generations, to lay upon the 
tomb of Lee the tribute of his just praise and admira- 
tion.* 

* Reference is here made to the visit of Mr. Charles Francis Adams and his 
address at the centennial celebration of General Lee's birth, which celebra- 
tion was held in the chapel of Washington and Lee University, January 19, 
1907. In after years Mr. Adams wrote: " The Lee Centennial is my one 
effort . . . which I now regard as having been somewhat better than a mere 
waste of time and force. Indeed, from the literary point of view, I should 
put it in the forefront of anything I may have done." It has "since been 
for me one of the pleasantest things in life to look back on. . . . This 
occasion was in every way a success and constituted a very grateful incident 
in life — good and altogether pleasant to look back on. It was not marred, as 
I afterwards realized, by a single untoward incident. . . . What I 
offered was received with a warmth of applause which I have never else- 
where or on any other occasion had equalled. Most of all, I gratified a large 
number of most excellent people. Altogether pleasant at the time, it was in 



GENERAL LEE AS A MAN 197 

Those who were once his enemies in war, and their 
descendants, have come to recognize the greatness and 
goodness of him who was the very incarnation of the 
Confederate cause, and whom the educated civilized 
world is beginning to regard as the greatest man of 
the century which gave him to mankind. 

While they begin to discern the beauty, the sym- 
metry, and the majestic proportions of his character, 
they can never see or know him as the Southern people 
saw and knew him, in all the grace, and manliness, and 
glory of his perfect manhood; for to us he was what a 
true and loving father is to his children, guide, coun- 
selor, benefactor, and devoted friend. 

And it is this which measurably explains what is, 
as well the most marked feature of his career as one 
of the strongest proofs of his true greatness, namely, 
that he was and continues to be the most beloved man 
among the masses of the people among whom he lived 
and whom he served, that this land has ever known. 

Not only his soldiers, but the people of the South 
loved him and still love him with a devotion which is 

retrospect an occasion yet more pleasant." See Charles Francis Adams, 
1835-igiS, an Autobiography, 206-208. 

In June, 1916, there was placed on the wall of the Lee Memorial Chapel 
a bronze tablet which bears the following legend: 

"Charles Francis Adams 
Presented by Southern Men 

In Appreciation of 

His Friendship for the South 

And His Noble Tribute to 

Robert Edward Lee." 

Above the inscription is a profile of Mr. Adams in bas relief. — Editor 



198 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

very nearly akin to adoration. Thousands of his 
soldiers would have esteemed it a privilege to die for 
him. The world would understand this, if the world 
could have seen and known him as we saw and knew 
him. 

It would be difficult to conceive of a nobler presence 
or a more attractive personality than his! A form "of 
noblest mold" crowned by a countenance perfect in 
its calm benignity, and manly beauty. Large lustrous 
dark brown eyes, kindly eyes — honest, earnest eyes — • 
which you saw at once were the windows of a great 
soul. Eyes that gleamed with a high unfaltering pur- 
pose, and a dauntless courage, and could serenely look 
impending disaster and death in the face; and anon 
would beam with a loving sympathy and a tenderness 
which were almost divine. A bearing, simple, graceful, 
and natural, in which there was modesty without 
diffidence, and supreme dignity without self-assertion. 

It was this actual personal Lee whom his soldiers, 
and hundreds of thousands of the women and children 
of the Southern States knew and loved as no leader of 
men, certainly none of this continent, has ever been 
loved, before, or since his day. 

And this was the Lee who made his home here in 
Lexington for the last five years of his life on earth, 
and whom it was the priceless privilege of the men, 
women and children of this community to see and 
know, and to honor and to love as no man has ever 
been beloved by the generous and devoted hearts of a 
loyal and a grateful people. 



GENERAL LEE AS A MAN 199 

This was the Lee who, while the people whom he had 
led to victory after victory, had been compelled, by 
exhaustion, to surrender to overwhelming numbers 
and resources, sitting amid the ashes of their homes 
and their hopes, still benumbed by the shock of their 
great disaster, were slowly gathering up their energies 
to wrest a livelihood for their children from a wasted 
and desolate land, bade them to trust in God, take 
hope, and be of good cheer. It was even then that 
with a prescience which stamps him not only as a 
statesman, but as a prophet, he saw clearly that im- 
measurably the most important interest of the South 
was the education of her children; that through their 
right training and education alone the people of these 
states could regain their preeminence and attain to a 
degree of surpassing prosperity, power and usefulness. 

He determined to devote, and he did devote, what 
was left to him of strength and energy and enthusiasm 
for the remaining years of his life, to this great cause — 
the cause of education, and primarily to the education 
of the young men of the Southern States. 

This was the Lee who then accepted the presidency 
of Washington College. 

The institution had then already been enriched by 
patriotic associations and memories, and appropriately 
bore the name of the Father of his Country, till then 
its greatest benefactor; but its walls had been dis- 
mantled, its apparatus and educational appliances 
destroyed, and its small endowment diminished in 
value, so that the work of its regeneration was almost 



200 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

as difficult as the building up of a new school would 
have been. 

Here he came on that lovely autumn day of 1865, 
and from that moment till now, and for all coming 
time, if the custodians of this university are faithful 
to their high trust, the influence of his personality, of 
his character, and his name, is, and will be, a part of 
the very atmosphere and life and being of this uni- 
versity, as it is now, and must ever be, its most precious 
possession. 

His life and the lessons of his example served while 
he was here, and will serve for all time, to inculcate in 
the minds of the ingenuous youth of the country who, 
if we are true to his memory and his teachings, shall in 
increasing numbers gather here as the years and the 
centuries go by, not only the lessons of devotion to 
civic duty, of duty to man, — but the higher lessons of 
piety, and religion, of duty to God; for of all the Godly 
and Christian men who have been connected with this 
venerable institution as academy, college and uni- 
versity, none were more Godly, none more devout, 
none more sincere, consistent and humble followers of 
the meek and lowly Jesus, than the modest Christian 
gentleman who lies buried over yonder by the chapel 
for the worship of the living God, which he caused to 
be erected there. 

Well may we cherish his memory. 

Well may we again and again recall the lessons of 
his life and repeat those lessons to our children and 
our children's children. 



GENERAL LEE AS A MAN 20I 

Well may we remember the measureless debt of 
gratitude which the people of this whole land, but 
particularly the people of Virginia and the Confederate 
South, and most of all the alumni, students, faculty, 
and trustees of this university owe to him who was 
their greatest benefactor. 

I have spoken of Lee as a prophet. His was the 
optimism which came not merely from hope, but 
was founded in faith, — faith in God, faith in his 
countrymen, and faith in the free institutions of his 
country. 

In perhaps the darkest hours which followed the 
surrender of the armies of the Confederacy, when the 
vials of sectional wrath were being poured out upon a 
helpless and almost defenseless people, and dark and 
darkening clouds seemed to cover the political and 
commercial horizon of the lately Confederated States, 
General Lee wrote as follows: 

"Although the future is still dark, and the prospects 
gloomy, I am confident that if we all unite in doing 
our duty, and earnestly work to extract what good 
we can out of the evil that now hovers over our dear 
land, the time is not distant when the angry clouds 
will be lifted from our horizon, and the sun in his 
pristine brightness shine forth again." 

And here to-day, and for all coming time, we who 
are Virginians can have no nobler motto and no more 
inspiring call to patriotic duty than the eloquent reply 
which our immortal commander made to a despairing 
young Virginian who had inquired of him, "what the 



202 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

future had in store for us poor Virginians," an answer 
which deserves to live forever in the hearts of all Vir- 
ginians: 

"You can work for Virginia, to build her up again. 
You can teach your children to love and cherish her!" 



TRIBUTE TO GENERAL LEE AS AN EDUCATOR 

By Dr. Henry Louis Smith, 
President of Washington and Lee University. 

Extract from remarks made in opening the exercises of the Founders* 
Day celebration, January 19th, 1921. 

AMID the wreck and ruin of 1865 the immortal 
leader of the Confederate armies, a soldier 
"- from his youth, finding himself without a 
professions, ought to re-invest his life for the benefit of 
his stricken land. 

Offers of ease, wealth, leisure, and high position 
poured in on him from every side. The headship of 
the Egyptian armies, with a rank next to that of the 
Khedive himself, a princely estate in England, with 
all its revenues, a fabulous salary as the nominal head 
of a great Southern corporation, all these, with the 
rest and freedom from care which his worn soul and 
body craved, were laid aside at the call of duty. 

Across the Blue Ridge mountains in a borrowed 
coat, riding a borrowed horse, his ♦^raveling expenses 
met by borrowed funds, the repr ;sentative of the 
board of trustees of George Wash ngton's bankrupt 
and war-wrecked college had come to offer to him the 
headship of his great kinsman's institution, promising 
him a salary of $1,500 per annum, but admitting that 
the institution was already l4,ooo in debt for unpaid 



204 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

salaries and must trust to the General's success as an 
administrator for its future solvency. 

At the opening of the war, with sublime self-sacri- 
fice, General Lee had refused the headship of the 
Union Armies, and with full knowledge and foresight 
of the inevitable future, had elected to tread the fiery 
path to ruin with his native State rather than prove 
false to his ideals of patriotism and duty. 

His choice at its close reached even higher levels of 
heroic self-sacrifice, and I know of no more pathetic 
and sublime picture in American history than General 
Lee, on his warhorse Traveller, making his way alone 
across the Blue Ridge mountains, and riding quietly 
into the little village of Lexington to take up the 
burdens of a new profession and rebuild in a time of 
universal bankruptcy the fortunes of a disorganized 
and impoverished institution. 

His immortal kinsman, being rich, had endowed the 
college with his money; General Lee, like his divine 
Exemplar, being poor and without a place to lay his 
head, followed His divine example and gave himself — 
thus enriching the institution for all time. 

With tireless devotion, he threw himself into the 
work of education and administration. With an edu- 
cational originality many years in advance of his time, 
he added to the old-fashioned classical curriculum of 
Washington College, schools of engineering, journalism, 
commerce, and law; gathered students, teachers, 
buildings, and endowments on Washington's founda- 
tion; fixed for all time the institution's ideals of char- 



GENERAL LEE AS AN EDUCATOR 205 

acter and chivalry; and then, worn out by his cease- 
less and indefatigable labors, fell at his post and 
bequeathed to it his ever-widening influence, his 
sacred dust, and his incomparable name. 

Thus the five years' work of Lee the Educator 
fittingly crowns and supplements the five stormy years 
of Lee the Soldier, and undoubtedly, when the long 
roll is finally called and his contribution to the up- 
lift and betterment of the human race finally assessed 
and determined, his self-sacrificing labors at Lexington 
will outshine and outweigh all the more transient glories 
of his amazing military career. 



DEATH AND FUNERAL OF GENERAL LEE 

By Col. William Preston Johnston 

This contribution by a member of General Lee's faculty was prepared for 
a Memorial Volume which Washington and Lee University contemplated 
publishing shortly after the death of General Lee. When this plan was 
abandoned the manuscript was turned over to Dr. J. William Jones and 
published in his Personal Reminiscences of Gen. R. E. Lee, 446-459. It is 
here reproduced because Dr. Jones' book in which it appeared has long 
been out of print. 

Death of General Lee 

THE death of General Lee was not due to any- 
sudden cause, but was the result of agencies 
dating as far back as 1863. In the trying 
campaign of that year, he contracted a severe sore- 
throat, that resulted in rheumatic inflammation of 
the sac inclosing the heart. There is no doubt that 
after this sickness his health was always more or less 
impaired; and, although he complained little, yet 
rapid exercise on foot or on horseback produced pain 
and difficulty of breathing. In October, 1869, he was 
again attacked by inflammation of the heart-sac, ac- 
companied by muscular rheumatism of the back, right 
side, and arms. The action of the heart was weakened 
by this attack; the flush upon the face was deepened, 
the rheumatism increased, and he was troubled with 
weariness and depression. 

In March, 1870, General Lee, yielding to the so- 



DEATH AND FUNERAL OF GENERAL LEE 207 

licitations of friends and medical advisers, made a 
six weeks' visit to Georgia and Florida. He returned 
greatly benefited by the influence of the genial climate, 
the society of friends of those States, and the dem- 
onstrations of respect and affection of the people of 
the South; his physical condition, however, was not 
greatly improved. During this winter and spring he 
had said to his son. General Custis Lee, that his attack 
was mortal; and had virtually expressed the same 
belief to other trusted friends. And now, with that 
delicacy that pervaded all his actions, he seriously 
considered the question of resigning the presidency of 
Washington College, "fearful that he might not be 
equal to his duties." After listening, however, to the 
affectionate remonstrances of the faculty and board 
of trustees, who well knew the value of his wisdom in 
the supervision of the college, and the power of his 
mere presence and example upon the students, he 
resumed his labors with the resolution to remain at 
his post and carry forward the great work he had so 
auspiciously begun. 

During the summer he spent some weeks at the 
Hot Springs of Virginia, using the baths, and came 
home seemingly better in health and spirits. He 
entered upon the duties of the opening collegiate year 
in September with that quiet zeal and noiseless energy 
that marked all his actions, and an unusual elation 
was felt by those about him at the increased prospect 
that long years of usefulness and honor would yet be 
added to his glorious life. 



2o8 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

Wednesday, the 28th of September, 1870, found 
General Lee at the post of duty. In the morning he 
was fully occupied with the correspondence and other 
tasks incident to his office of President of Washington 
College, and he declined offers of assistance from 
members of the faculty, of whose services he some- 
times availed himself. After dinner, at four o'clock, 
he attended a vestry-meeting of Grace (Episcopal) 
Church. The afternoon was chilly and wet, and a 
steady rain had set in, which did not cease until it 
resulted in a great flood, the most memorable and 
destructive in this region for a hundred years. The 
church was rather cold and damp, and General Lee, 
during the meeting, sat in a pew with his military cape 
cast loosely about him. In a conversation that occu- 
pied the brief space preceding the call to order, he took 
part, and told, with marked cheerfulness of manner 
and kindliness of tone, some pleasant anecdotes of 
Bishop Meade and Chief-Justice Marshall. The 
meeting was protracted until after seven o'clock, by a 
discussion touching the rebuilding of the church edifice 
and the increase of the rector's salary. General Lee 
acted as chairman, and, after hearing all that was 
said, gave his own opinion, as was his wont, briefly and 
without argument. He closed the meeting with a 
characteristic act. The amount required for the min- 
ister's salary still lacked a sum much greater than 
General Lee's proportion of the subscription, in view 
of his frequent and generous contributions to the 
church and other charities; hut just before the adjourn- 



DEATH AND FUNERAL OF GENERAL LEE 209 

ment, when the treasurer announced the amount of 
the deficit still remaining, General Lee said, in a low 
tone: "I will give that sum." He seemed tired toward 
the close of the meeting, and, as was afterward re- 
marked, showed an unusual flush, but at the time no 
apprehensions were felt. 

General Lee returned to his house, and, finding his 
family waiting tea for him, took his place at the table, 
standing to say grace. The effort was vain, the lips 
could not utter the prayer of the heart. Finding him- 
self unable to speak, he took his seat quietly and with- 
out agitation. His face seemed to some of the anxious 
group about him to wear a look of sublime resignation, 
and to evince a full knowledge that the hour had come 
when all the cares and anxieties of his crowded life 
were at an end. His physicians, Drs. H. T. Barton 
and R. L. Madison, arrived promptly, applied the 
usual remedies, and placed him upon the couch from 
which he was to rise no more. To him henceforth the 
things of this world were as nothing, and he bowed with 
resignation to the command of the Master he had fol- 
lowed so long with reverence. 

The symptoms of his attack resembled concussion 
of the brain, without the attendant swoon. There 
was marked debility, a slightly impaired consciousness, 
and a tendency to doze; but no paralysis of motion 
or sensation, and no evidence of softening or inflam- 
mation of the brain. His physicians treated the case 
as one of venous congestion, and with apparently 
favorable results. Yet, despite these propitious au- 



2IO GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

guries drawn from his physical symptoms, in view of 
the great mental strain he had undergone, the gravest 
fears were felt that the attack was mortal. He took 
without objection the medicines and diet prescribed, 
and was strong enough to turn in bed without aid, and 
to sit up to take nourishment. During the earlier days 
of his illness, though inclined to doze, he was easily 
aroused, was quite conscious and observant, evidently 
understood whatever was said to him, and answered 
questions briefly but intelligently; he was, however, 
averse to much speaking, generally using monosyl- 
lables, as had always been his habit when sick. When 
first attacked, he said to those who were removing his 
clothes, pointing at the same time to his rheumatic 
shoulder, "You hurt my arm." Although he seemed 
to be gradually improving until October loth, he ap- 
parently knew from the first that the appointed hour 
had come when he must enter those dark gates that, 
closing, reopen no more to earth. In the words of his 
physician, "he neither expected nor desired to re- 
cover." When General Custis Lee made some allusion 
to his recovery, he shook his head and pointed up- 
ward. On the Monday morning before his death. 
Dr. Madison, finding him looking better, tried to 
cheer him: "How do you feel to-day. General?" Gen- 
eral Lee replied, slowly and distinctly: "I feel better." 
The doctor then said: "You must make haste and get 
well; Traveller has been standing so long in the stable 
that he needs exercise." The General made no reply, 
but slowly shook his head and closed his eyes. Several 



DEATH AND FUNERAL OF GENERAL LEE 211 

times during his illness he put aside his medicine, 
saying, "It is of no use," but yielded patiently to the 
wishes of his physicians or children, as if the slackened 
chords of being still responded to the touch of duty or 
affection. 

On October lo, during the afternoon, his pulse be- 
came feeble and rapid, and his breathing hurried, 
with other evidences of great exhaustion. About 
midnight he was seized with a shivering from extreme 
debility, and Dr. Barton felt obliged to announce the 
danger to the family. On October nth, he was evi- 
dently sinking; his respiration was hurried, and his 
pulse feeble and rapid. Though less observant, he 
still recognized whoever approached him, but refused 
to take anything unless presented by his physicians. 
It now became certain that the case was hopeless. 
His decline was rapid, yet gentle; and soon after nine 
o'clock, on the morning of October 12th, he closed his 
eyes, and his soul passed peacefully from earth. 

General Lee's physicians attributed his death in 
great measure to moral causes. The strain of his 
campaigns, the bitterness of defeat aggravated by the 
bad faith and insolence of the victor, sympathy with 
the subsequent sufferings of the Southern people, and 
the effort at calmness under these accumulated sorrows, 
seemed the sufficient and real causes that slowly but 
steadily undermined General Lee's health and led to 
his death. Yet to those who saw his composure under 
the greater and lesser trials of life, and his justice and 
forbearance with the most unjust and uncharitable. 



212 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

it seemed scarcely credible that his serene soul was 
shaken by the evil that raged around him. 

General Lee's closing hours were consonant with 
his noble and disciplined life. Never was more beauti- 
fully displayed how a long and severe education of 
mind and character enables the soul to pass with equal 
step through this supreme ordeal; never did the habits 
and qualities of a lifetime, solemnly gathered into a 
few last sad hours, more grandly maintain themselves 
amid the gloom and shadow of approaching death. 
The reticence, the self-contained composure, the 
obedience to proper authority, the magnanimity, and 
the Christian meekness, that marked all his actions, 
still preserved their sway, in spite of the inroads of 
disease, and the creeping lethargy that weighed down 
his faculties. 

As the old hero lay in the darkened room, or with 
the lamp and hearth fire casting shadows upon his 
calm, noble front, all the massive grandeur of his form, 
and face, and brow, remained; and death seemed to 
lose its terrors, and to borrow a grace and dignity in 
sublime keeping with the life that was ebbing away. 
The great mind sank to its last repose, almost with the 
equal poise of health. The few broken utterances that 
evinced at times a wandering intellect were spoken 
under the influence of the remedies administered; but 
as long as consciousness lasted, there was evidence that 
all the high, controlling influences of his whole life 
still ruled; and even when stupor was laying its cold 
hand on the intellectual perceptions, the moral nature. 



DEATH AND FUNERAL OF GENERAL LEE 213 

with its complete orb of duties and affections, still 
asserted itself. A Southern poet has celebrated in 
song those last significant words, "Strike the tent": 
and a thousand voices were raised to give meaning to 
the uncertain sound, when the dying man said, with 
emphasis, "Tell Hill he must come up!" These sen- 
tences serve to show most touchingly through what 
fields the imagination was passing; but generally his 
words, though few, were coherent; but for the most 
part indeed his silence was unbroken. 

This self-contained reticence had an awful grandeur, 
in solemn accord with a life that needed no defense. 
Deeds which required no justification must speak for 
him. His voiceless lips, like the shut gates of some 
majestic temple, were closed, not for concealment, but 
because that within was holy. Could the eye of the 
mourning watcher have pierced the gloom that gathered 
about the recesses of that great soul, it would have 
perceived a Presence there full of an ineffable glory. 
Leaning trustfully upon the all-sustaining Arm, the 
man whose stature, measured by mortal standards, 
seemed so great, passed from this world of shadows 
to the realities of the hereafter. 

Funeral 

On the morning of Wednesday, October 12th, the 
church-bells tolled forth the solemn announcement 
that General Lee was dead. A whisper had passed 
from lip to lip that he was sinking; and the anxious 
hearts of the people understood the signal of bereave- 



214 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

ment. Without concert of action, labor was sus- 
pended in Lexington; all stores, shops, and places of busi- 
ness were closed; and the exercises at the college, military 
institute, and schools, ceased without formal notice. 
Little children wept as they went to their homes; the 
women shed tears as if a dear friend had gone from 
among them; and the rugged faces of men, inured to 
hardship of war, blanched as the sorrowful word was 
spoken. The courtesies and little kindnesses that the 
departed had strewed with gentle hand among all 
classes of the community came back; and memory 
recalled his stately form, not surrounded with the 
splendor of his fame, but in the softer light of a dear 
neighbor and friend who had vanished from sight 
forever. The sense of national calamity was lost in 
the tenderer distress of personal grief. General and 
heart-felt 'mourning followed, and^^the ordinary pursuits 
of business were not resumed until the next week. 

In all the Southern States the people felt that the 
death of General Lee was a loss to every community 
and to each individual. By a common impulse they 
met in whatever bodies they were accustomed to 
assemble; and in mass-meetings, corporate bodies, and 
voluntary societies, passed resolutions and voted ad- 
dresses of respect and condolence. The pulpit, the 
bar, the bench, the halls of legislation, municipal au- 
thorities, benevolent associations, and all the organ- 
izations through which men perform the functions of 
society, spontaneously offered tributes to the memory 
of the illustrious dead. 



DEATH AND FUNERAL OF GENERAL LEE 21 5 

The chosen orators of the land came forward to 
eulogize his fame. A whole people, who at his counsel 
had borne in silence five years of accumulated suffer- 
ings, gave way to sorrow at the death of their loved 
leader; but it was a sorrow in which tenderness was 
exalted by the dignity of the dead, and the bereaved 
felt that they shared in the heritage of an undying 
name. It might seem invidious to select from testi- 
monials so general and so honorable any even to serve 
as illustrations or examples of the universal sorrow; 
but it may be said of all that never was the sense of 
public calamity more completely chastened in its ex- 
pression by deep and real feeling. 

The authorities of Washington College having 
tendered to Mrs. Lee the college chapel as a burial- 
place for General Lee, the offer was accepted; and 
1.30 o'clock P. M. on the 14th of October was the time 
fixed on for the removal of the remains from the resi- 
dence of the deceased to the chapel, where they were 
to lie in state until Saturday, the 15th of October, 
the day appointed for the burial. At the hour named, 
the procession to convey the body was formed under 
the charge of Professor J. J. White as chief-marshal, 
aided by assistants appointed by the students. The 
escort of honor consisted of Confederate soldiers, 
marshaled by the Hon. J. K. Edmondson, late colonel 
of the Twenty-seventh Virginia Regiment. Following 
the escort came the hearse, preceded by the clergy, 
and attended by twelve pall-bearers, representing the 
trustees, faculty, and students of Washington College, 



2l6 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

the authorities of the Virginia Military Institute, the 
soldiers of the Confederate army, the citizens of Lex- 
ington. Just in the rear of the hearse. Traveller, the 
noble white war horse of General Lee, with saddle and 
bridle covered with crape, was led by two old soldiers. 
Then came in order the long procession composed of 
the college authorities and students, the corps of 
cadets with their faculty, and the citizens. The body 
was borne to the college chapel, and laid in state on 
the dais; the procession passing slowly by, that each 
one might look upon the face of the dead. The body, 
attired in a simple suit of black, lay in a metallic 
coffin, strewed by pious hands with flowers and ever- 
greens. The chapel, with the care of the remains, 
was then placed in charge of the guard of honor, ap- 
pointed by the students from their own number. 
This guard kept watch by the coffin until the inter- 
ment, and gave to all who desired it the opportunity 
of looking once more upon the loved and honored face. 
On Friday morning, October 14th, the college chapel 
was filled at nine o'clock with a solemn congregation 
of students and citizens, all of whom seemed deeply 
moved by the simple exercises. Rev. Dr. Pendleton 
read from Psalm XXXVII, 8-1 1, and 28-40, and with 
deep feeling applied its lessons to the audience, as 
illustrated in the life and death of General Lee. The 
speaker had for forty-five years been intimately asso- 
ciated with this great and good man as fellow student, 
comrade-in-arms, and pastor; and testified to his 
singular and consistent rectitude, dignity, and excel- 



DEATH AND FUNERAL OF GENERAL LEE 217 

lence under all the circumstances of life, and to that 
meekness in him that under the most trying adversity- 
knew not envy, anger or complaint. "The law of 
God was in his heart," therefore did "none of his steps 
slide." "Mark the perfect man and behold the up- 
right, for the end of that man is peace." The minister 
powerfully illustrated the text of his discourse in the 
career of this great and good man, and urged his hearers 
to profit by the example of this servant of the Lord. 

The venerable Dr. White, Stonewall Jackson's 
pastor, and the Rev. John William Jones, of the Bap- 
tist Church, who had served as chaplain in the Con- 
federate army, and had since been intimately connected 
with General Lee, followed with brief but interesting 
remarks on the Christian character of the deceased. 

On the 14th of October, General W. H. F. Lee, 
Captain Robert E. Lee, and other members of the 
family, arrived; and on this and the following day 
delegations from the Legislature of Virginia and from 
various places in the Commonwealth reached Lexington 
over roads almost impassable from the ravages of the 
recent great flood. The flag of Virginia, draped in 
mourning, hung at half-mast above the college, badges 
of sorrow were everywhere visible, and a general gloom 
rested on the hearts of old and young. 

Saturday, October 15th, was the day appointed for 
the funeral. A cloudless sky and a pure, bracing air 
made a suitable close to the splendid and unsullied 
career of the man who was now to be consigned to the 
tomb. It was desired to avoid all mere pageantry and 



21 8 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

display, and that all the honors paid should accord 
with the simple dignity of the dead. This spirit pre- 
vailed in all the proceedings, and gave character to 
the ceremonies of the day. 

It was thought proper that those who had followed 
his flag should lay the honored body of their chief in 
its last resting place, and the escort of honor of Con- 
federate soldiers, much augmented in numbers, and 
commanded by General B. T. Johnson, assisted by 
Colonel Edmondson, Colonel Maury, and Major 
Dorman, was assigned the post of honor in the pro- 
cession. 

The following account of the ceremonies is taken 
from a newspaper letter, written at the time, by Rev. 
J. Wm. Jones: 

"The order of the procession was as follows: 

Music. 
Escort of Honor, consisting of Officers and Soldiers of the 
Confederate Army. 
Chaplain and other Clergy. 
Hearse and Pall-Bearers. 
General Lee's Horse. 
The Attending Physicians. 
Trustees and Faculty of Washington College. 
Dignitaries of the State of Virginia. 
Visitors and Faculty of Virginia Military Institute. 
Other Representative Bodies and Distinguished Visitors. 
Alumni of Washington College. 
Citizens, 
Cadets Virginia Military Institute. 
Students Washington College as Guard of Honor." 

"At ten o'clock precisely the procession was formed 
on the college grounds in front of the president's house, 



DEATH AND FUNERAL OF GENERAL LEE 219 

and moved down Washington Street, up Jefferson 
Street to the Franklin Hall, thence to Main Street, 
where it was joined, in front of the hotel, by the rep- 
resentatives of the State of Virginia and other repre- 
sentative bodies in their order, and by the organized 
body of the citizens in front of the courthouse. 

"The procession then moved by the street to the 
Virginia Military Institute, where it was joined by 
the visitors, faculty, and cadets of the institute, in 
their respective places. The procession was closed by 
the students of Washington College as a guard of 
honor, and then moved up through the institute and 
college grounds to the chapel. 

"The procession was halted in front of the chapel, 
when the cadets of the institute and the students of 
Washington College were marched through the college 
chapel past the remains, and were afterward drawn 
up in two bodies on the south side of the chapel. The 
remainder of the procession then proceeded into the 
chapel and were seated under the direction of the 
marshals. The gallery and side blocks were reserved 
for ladies. 

"As the procession moved off, to a solemn dirge by 
the institute band, the bells of the town began to toll, 
and the institute battery fired minute-guns, which 
were kept up during the whole exercises. 

" In front of the National Hotel the procession was 
joined by the committee of the Legislature, consisting 
of Colonel W. H. Taylor, Colonel E. Pendleton, W. L. 
Riddick, Major Kelly, Geo. Walker, Z. Turner, H. 



220 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

Bowen, T. O. Jackson, and Marshall Hanger; the 
delegation from the city of Staunton, headed by 
Colonel Bolivar Christian and other prominent citizens; 
and such other delegations as had been able to stem 
the torrents which the great freshet had made of even 
the smaller streams. 

"It was remarked that the different classes who 
joined in the procession mingled into each other, and 
that among the boards of the college and institute, 
the faculties, the students and cadets, the legislative 
committee, the delegations, and even the clergy, were 
many who might with equal propriety have joined the 
soldier guard of honor; for they, too, had followed the 
standard of Lee in the days that tried men's souls. 

"Along the streets the buildings were all appropri- 
ately draped, and crowds gathered on the corners 
and the balconies to see the procession pass. Not a 
flag floated above *' e procession, and nothing was seen 
that looked like ar ttempt at display. The old soldiers 
wore their ordir citizens' dress, with a simple 

black ribbon in t apel of their coats; and Traveller, 
led by two old ?^ iers, had the simple trappings of 
mourning on his . die. 

"The Virginia [ilitary Institute was very beauti- 
fully draped, and -om its turrets hung at half-mast, 
and draped in moi rning, the flags of all of the States 
of the late Southern Confederacy. 

"When the procession reached the institute, it passed 
the corps of cadets drawn up in line, and a guard of 
honor presented arms as the hearse passed. When 



DEATH AND FUNERAL OF GENERAL LEE 221 

it reached the chapel, where an immense throng had 
assembled, the students and cadets, about six hundred 
and fifty strong, marched into the left door and aisle 
past the remains and out by the right aisle and door 
to their appropriate place. The rest of the procession 
then filed in. The family, joined by Drs. Barton and 
Madison, the attending physicians, and Colonels W. 
H. Taylor and C. S. Venable, members of General 
Lee's staff during the war, occupied seats immediately 
in front of the pulpit; and the clergy, of whom a number 
were present, faculty of the college, and faculty of 
the institute, had places on the platform. 

"The coffin was covered with flowers and ever- 
greens, while the front of the drapery thrown over it 
was decorated with crosses of evergreen and immor- 
telles. 

"Rev. Dr. Pendleton, the long intimate personal 
friend of General Lee, his chief of artillery during the 
war, and his pastor the past five y rs, read the beauti- 
ful burial service of the Epif .»al Church. No 
sermon was preached, and noth / said besides the 
simple service, in accordance wit the known wishes 
of General Lee. 

"After the funeral services we? concluded in the 
chapel, the body was removed tc t^e vault prepared 
for its reception, and the conclud .ig services read by 
the chaplain from the bank on the southern side of 
the chapel, in front of the vault. 

"There was sung, in the chapel, the 124th hymn of 
the Episcopal collection; and, after the coffin was 



222 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

lowered into the vault, the congregation sang the grand 
old hymn, 

*How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord.' 

"This was always a favorite hymn of General Lee's, 
and was, therefore, especially appropriate upon this sad 
occasion. 

"The vault is constructed of brick, lined with cement. 
The top just reaches the floor of the library, and is 
double capped with white marble, on which is the 
simple inscription: 

* ROBERT EDWARD LEE, 
Born January 19, 1807; 
Died October 12, 1870. 

"This temporary structure is to be replaced by a 
beautiful sarcophagus, the design of which has been 
already committed to Valentine, the gifted Virginia 
sculptor." 

The simple services concluded, the great assemblage, 
with hearts awed and saddened, defiled through the 
vaulted room in which was the tomb, to pay the last token 
of respect to the mighty dead. Thus ended the funeral 
of General Robert E. Lee. 



GENERAL LEE'S LAST OFFICE 
By Dr. J. William Jones 

This brief contribution from the pen of a former Chaplain in the 
Army of Northern Virginia, who was also a noted author and editor 
of books and magazines relating to the War of Secession, was 
published in the Confederate Veteran for Sept., 1899. — Editor. 

WHEN our great chieftain, after the close of 
the great "War between the States," turned 
his back upon offers of pecuniary assistance 
and positions with large salaries and bright promise 
of rich emoluments, and went to preside over Wash- 
ington College, at Lexington, Va., in order, as he ex- 
pressed it, to "teach young men to do their duty in 
life," he built with the first money he could secure for 
the purpose a commodious, neat, and substantial 
chapel. In the basement of this chapel was the college 
Hbrary, the office of his secretary, and General Lee's 
own office. This latter was neatly but not extrava- 
gantly furnished with desks, bookshelves, chairs, and 
especially a large round table at which the President 
sat in an arm-chair, and on which he wrote, with 
letters, pamphlets, stationery, etc., conveniently ar- 
ranged and always kept in that neat order which so 
eminently characterized the man. 

Here he received members of the faculty, students, 
or other visitors with the cordial, easy grace which 
made a visit to the office so pleasant. 



224 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

On Wednesday, September 28, 1870, President Lee 
was at his post of duty, and after attending morning 
chapel service, as was his wont every day, he went into 
his office and was busy all the morning with his cor- 
respondence, etc. At 3 o'clock he went to his home 
for dinner, leaving a half-finished letter on his table. 
At 4 o'clock he presided over an important meeting 
of the vestry of his Church — Grace Episcopal Church — 
from which he did not return home until 7 o'clock, 
finding the family waiting tea for him. He started to 
ask a blessing, when he was smitten with the fatal 
disease from which he died soon after 9 o'clock on the 
morning of October 12. 

His office has been kept ever since just as he left it. 
The half-finished letter, the inkstand, pens, letter 
heads, pamphlets, packages of letters, college reports, 
etc., all remind one of the great President who on that 
day left his busy workshop to enter so soon upon his 
glorious rest. 

The visitor to this Mecca of our Southland — the 
tomb of Lee and the grave of Stonewall Jackson, 
Lexington, in the Valley of Virginia, — will be sure to 
enter this beautiful chapel and look with interest on 
the pew the lamented President always occupied. 
Then he will gaze long and with intense gratification 
on the pure white marble just in the rear of the college 
platform, in which the genius of Edward Valentine has 
produced one of the most superb works of art on this 
continent and given us a veritable "Marse Robert 
asleep." 




Recumbent Statue of General Lee, by Valentine 
Mausoleum Beneath the Recumbent Statue 



GENERAL LEE'S LAST OFFICE 22$ 

He goes below and gazes with solemn awe on the 
vault in which sleep the ashes of America's greatest 
soldier, the world's model man; and then he turns into 
the office where there are such precious mementos, 
such hallowed memories of the greatest college Presi- 
dent which this country ever produced. 

May the office be ever preserved just as he left it, 
and future generations of students draw inspiration 
from the precious memories which cluster there! 



THE MAUSOLEUM AND RECUMBENT STATUE 

By Col. William Allan 

This description of the Mausoleum and Recumbent Statue and account 
of the dedication of the latter was written by a member of General Lee's 
faculty and of the executive committee of the Lee Memorial Association 
which was organized to provide a suitable monument expressing the love and 
veneration of the South for its great leader. It is taken from a pamphet 
published by the Washington and Lee University shortly after the dedicatory 
ceremonies in 1883. — Editor. 

MRS. MARY CUSTIS LEE was requested 
by the executive committee [of the Lee 
Memorial Association], to indicate her prefer- 
ence in regard to the monument to be erected by the 
association, and at her suggestion, Mr. Ed. V. Valen- 
tine, the distinguished Virginian sculptor, was sent 
for. Mr. Valentine had, the preceding summer, 
modeled a bust of General Lee from life, which was 
considered an admirable work of art. Mrs. Lee, after 
examining a number of drawings and photographs of 
celebrated works of art, suggested, as a suitable design 
for the monument, a recumbent figure of General Lee 
lying asleep upon the field of battle. The design was 
suggested to her by Rauch's figure of Louise of Prussia 
in the mausoleum at Charlottenburg. This figure 
of Lee, somewhat above life size, was to be placed upon 
a sarcophagus suitably inscribed and decorated. The 



THE MAUSOLEUM AND RECUMBENT STATUE 227 

whole was to be of white marble and was designed to be 
placed over the remains of General Lee. 



On April i, 1875, ^^- Valentine reported the work 
done, and the association took steps to have the 
monument brought to Lexington. At this time the 
students of Richmond College made application for 
the "privilege of taking charge of the monument when 
it is sent up to Lexington, and bearing the expenses 
of its transportation." This kind and courteous pro- 
posal was cordially accepted by the executive com- 
mittee, and the monument was brought by canal from 
Richmond under an escort of the students of Richmond 
College. The escort was composed of Messrs. J. T. 
E. Thornhill, W. M. Turpin, R. H. Pitt, A. M. Harris, 
H. C. Smith and J. W. Martin, of Virginia; S. S. Wood- 
ward of New Jersey; R. T. Hanks, of Alabama, and 
C. N. Donaldson, of South Carolina. As the figure was 
being taken from the artist's studio to the boat landing 
in Richmond, on April 13, a large number of the citi- 
zens of Richmond, headed by the students of Rich- 
mond College and the First Virginia Regiment, fol- 
lowed in procession to honor the memory of Lee. The 
monument reached Lexington, April 17, 1875. ^^^ 
Thornhill, in appropriate terms, delivered it to the 
committee, on whose behalf ex-Gov. John Letcher 
responded. Addresses were also made on this occasion 
by Lt. Gen. Early and Col. W. Preston Johnston. 
The monument was temporarily stored in a room upon 



228 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

the grounds of Washington and Lee University, and 
confided, for the time, to the guardianship of the stu- 
dents of that institution. 

When the completion of the figure had been assured, 
the executive committee turned their attention to 
providing a suitable mausoleum in which it might 
be placed. Gen. R. D. Lilly was appointed agent to col- 
lect funds for this purpose in the winter of 1874-5. • • • 

A year now passed, and in May, 1877, J. Crawford 
Neilson, Esq., a leading architect of Baltimore, offered 
to furnish a design for the mausoleum. Mr. Neilson *s 
kind offer was accepted and he was invited to visit 
Lexington. After full conference and investigation 
Mr. Neilson proposed as the design for the mausoleum 
a rectangular apse to be placed in the rear of the chapel 
of the university, where General Lee was buried. His 
plan was approved and adopted by the Association. 
As described at the time, it "consists of a fire proof 
apse, an addition to the rear of the chapel, conforming 
in material and design to the chapel itself. The lower 
story is a crypt of massive stone masonry, and the 
superstructure is built of brick. The interior is en- 
crusted with brick and Cleveland stone, of subdued 
tints, and is lighted from above. The whole constitutes 
a solemn and tender memorial of the warrior who rests 
in peace beneath, surrounded by the ashes of those 
who were dearest on earth." 

The final arrangements having been completed 
under the supervision of the architect, Mr. Neilson, 



THE MAUSOLEUM AND RECUMBENT STATUE 229 

and the artist, Mr. Valentine, the monument was 
formally transferred to the association by Mr. Val- 
entine on May 7, 1883, and was accepted on their 
behalf by the Hon. W. A. Anderson, who in fitting 
terms gave expression to the appreciation and admira- 
tion felt by all present as they looked upon the beautiful 
creation of the genius of Valentine and realized the 
perfection of the arrangements made by the skill and 
taste of Mr. Neilson for its preservation and display. 

The dimensions of the mausoleum on the ground 
plan are 31x36 feet. The lower story, which is con- 
structed of coraline limestone to correspond with the 
basement of the chapel, is a crypt containing cells or 
receptacles for twenty-eight bodies. Three of these 
contain the ashes of Gen. R. E. Lee, Mrs. Mary Custis 
Lee, and Miss Agnes Lee.* Adjoining the crypt, 
but underneath the chapel, is the room used as an 
office by General Lee during the later years of his 
presidency of Washington College, which is preserved 
as he left it on the day he was taken ill. 

The chamber containing the monument is directly 
over the crypt and is of brick like the corresponding 
part of the chapel. "The floor of the chamber is tes- 
sellated with white-veined marble and encaustic tiles. 
The walls consist of panels of grayish Indiana marble 

* In more recent years the remains of other members of the Lee family 
have been added, as follows: 

Gen. Henry ("Light Horse Harry") Lee, father of Gen. R. E. Lee; Gen. 
G. W. Custis and Capt. Robert E. Lee, sons of Gen. R. E. Lee; Misses 
Mildred Childe and Mary Custis Lee, daughters of Gen. R. E. Lee, and 
Mrs. Julia Carter Lee, second wife of Capt. R. E. Lee. — Editor. 



23 O GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

enframed in dark Baltimore pressed brick, and sur- 
mounted by semicircular compartments which can be 
used for basso-rilievo medallions. In one of these com- 
partments, immediately facing the chapel, is inscribed 
the name of General Lee, together with the dates of 
his birth and death. Immediately around the base of 
the sarcophagus is a border of dark tiling. The tes- 
sellated floor is on the level of the platform of the 
chapel, which is raised three feet above the floor of the 
audience chamber. 

The figure and couch, which are of statuary marble, 
are mounted on a sarcophagus simple almost to severity 
in its order, and which rests on a granite base course. 
The sides of the sarcophagus are composed of two 
marble panels each, the space between the panels 
bearing, in basso-rilievo^ on the one side the Lee coat of 
arms, and on the other the arms of Virginia. The 
head and foot consist of one panel each, the former 
being ornamented by a simple cross, the latter bearing 
the legend: 

ROBERT EDWARD LEE 

Born 

January 19, 1807; 

Died 
October 12, 1870. 

"The figure is over life size, and rests upon a heavily 
draped couch in an attitude of easy repose, the head 
being elevated to a natural position, with the face 
turned slightly to the right. The feet are lightly 
crossed. The right forearm lies across the breast — 



THE MAUSOLEUM AND RECUMBENT STATUE 231 

the hand holding by simple weight the blanket which 
covers the lower part of the body — while the left arm 
is fully extended along the couch, this hand holding 
the hilt of a sword." The contour of the limbs is 
easily discerned through the covering which falls over 
the lower part of the body. 

An anti-chamber connects the monument chamber 
with the chapel and is separated from the former by 
iron doors. A large arched opening, heavily curtained, 
leads from the chapel into this ante-chamber. The 
monument is so placed and the light, which falls from 
the room, so arranged, that when the curtains are 
drawn and the iron doors open, the figure can be seen 
from nearly every part of the floor and galleries of the 
chapel. 

The 28 th of June, the day for the public opening of 
the mausoleum, was the day after the Commencement 
of Washington and Lee University, the exercises of 
which had already drawn many persons to Lexington. 
In addition to these a much larger concourse of ex- 
Confederate soldiers gathered from every quarter on 
the day itself. All old Confederates and all admirers 
of General Lee were invited to attend, and special 
cards were sent to all former cabinet officers of the 
Confederate States, the general officers of the Con- 
federate army, the principal officers of the Confederate 
navy, the members of General Lee's staffs, the Governors 
of the Southern States, the executive and judicial 
officers of Virginia, and the representatives in Congress 
and the senators from Virginia. No effbrt was spared 



232 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

by the people of Lexington and Rockbridge county 
to honor the day. Business was suspended, and the 
people devoted themselves to the exercises of the day, 
and to entertaining the crowds that came from a 
distance. Special trains on the Richmond and Al- 
legheny and the Shenandoah Valley railroads brought 
numbers from every point within reach. A large 
number of the survivors of the Stonewall Brigade, as 
well as other commands of the Army of Northern 
Virginia, were present. Prominent among those . on 
the ground were the Maryland Line, consisting of the 
survivors of the soldiers and sailors of that State, who 
had served in the Confederate army and navy. Be- 
sides residents of the town and county, there were 
present among the distinguished persons from a dis- 
tance. Gen. Wade Hampton, Gen. J. A. Early, Gen. 
Fitz. Lee, Gen. W. H. F. Lee, Gen. Wm. Terry, Gen. 
Geo. H. Steuart, Gen. M. D. Corse, Gen. R. D. Lilly, 
Col. Wm. Norris, Chief of the Confederate Signal 
Bureau, Col. H. E. Peyton and Col. T. M. R. Talcott, 
of General Lee's Staff, Col. W. H. Palmer, of Gen. 
A. P. Hill's Staff, Capt. R. E. Lee, Capt. J. H. H. 
Figgat, Maj. E. L. Rogers, Judge H. W. Bruce, Judge 
J. H. Fulton, Hon. C. R. Breckinridge of Arkansas, 
Father Ryan, Rev. Dr. Alexander, Leigh Robinson, 
Esq., John J. Williams, Esq., C. W. Button, Esq., 
and D. Gardiner Tyler, Esq. Mrs. Gen. Stonewall 
Jackson, Mrs. Gen. J. E. B. Stuart, Mrs. Gen. 
Geo. E. Pickett and Mrs. Carlisle (formerly Mrs. 
Gen. Geo. B. Anderson), were also present. The 



THE MAUSOLEUM AND RECUMBENT STATUE 233 

venerable philanthropists, W. W. Corcoran, Esq., of 
Washington, and the venerable ex-Gov. Wm. Smith, 
of Virginia, honored the occasion by their presence. 

In the morning a procession was formed under 
General Hampton as chief marshal, which visited the 
grave of Stonewall Jackson in the Lexington cemetery. 
Here were seen many touching evidences of the devo- 
tion of his people to this great soldier. The soldiers of 
the Maryland Line, under Gen. G. H. Steuart, who 
had shared in many of Jackson's campaigns, brought 
a handsome bronze tablet inscribed with the arms of 
Maryland, which they placed at the head of his grave. 
The grave itself was covered with flowers and im- 
mortelles placed there by a number of ladies under 
the direction of Miss Edmonia Waddell. The railing 
around it was similarly decorated, and at each corner 
was a shield surrounded by an evergreen wreath, and 
containing a motto furnished by Mrs. Margaret J. 
Preston. These mottoes were: 

1. "Faith that could not fail nor yield, 
Was the legend of his shield." 

"Port Republic." 

2. " From the land for which he bled, 
Honor to the warrior dead." 

"Manassas." 

3 . " From the field of death and fame, 
Borne upon his shield he came." 

" Chancellorsville. " 

4. "In the Valley let me lie. 
Underneath God's open sky." 

"Lexington." 



234 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

More precious still was the silent tear which forced 
its way to the eye of many an old soldier as the green 
grave brought the scenes of twenty years ago before 
his sight. Among the beautiful incidents of the day 
was the following: The daughter of Ex-President 
Davis, Miss Winnie Davis, had sent to General Early 
two floral designs composed entirely of immortelles 
and made to represent the Confederate battle flag. 
They were exquisite in design and finish. One was 
intended for the grave of Lee and the other for that of 
Jackson. General Early selected Miss Carrie W. Daniel, 
the little ten-year-old daughter of the orator of the 
day, to place the tribute upon Jackson's grave. The 
tomb of Lee had been beautifully decorated with 
evergreens and flowers by a committee of the ladies of 
Lexington under the direction of Mrs. Gen. Edwin 
G. Lee. Amid these decorations was placed the Con- 
federate battle flag in immortelles. After the ceremonies 
of the day were over, many a bronzed and gray-headed 
soldier might have been seen culling some of these 
beautiful immortelles from the graves of Lee and 
Jackson to commit as a sacred memento to the keeping 
of his children. 

The procession returned from the cemetery to the 
grounds of Washington and Lee University, where in 
front of the chapel a stand and seats had been placed 
for the accommodation of the audience and speaker. 
The day was a propitious one. It was rainless, cool 
and bright. By ii o'clock a mass of from 8,000 to 
10,000 people filled the grounds. As many of them as 



THE MAUSOLEUM AND RECUMBENT STATUE 235 

could get within sound of the orator's voice gathered 
about the stand, and listened with absorbed attention. 
In the absence of Gen. Jos. E. Johnston, who was 
detained at home by serious illness, Lt. General Early 
introduced Maj. Daniel, who for three hours held his 
audience by the spell of his eloquence, moving it 
now to applause, and now to tears. At the close of the 
speech. General Early called upon Father Ryan to 
recite his poem, "The Sword of Lee." As the poet's 
voice gradually rose and spread over the throng the 
intense emotion with which his form and his words were 
filled spread, too, and fairly thrilled the great audience. 
The moment for the unveiling of the figure was 
then announced by a salute fired by the survivors of 
the "Rockbridge Artillery," who used for the purpose 
two guns which had constituted a part of their arma- 
ment at the first battle of Manassas. These guns 
were part of the cadet battery used by Stonewall 
Jackson when a professor at the Virginia Military In- 
stitute, and are now again in the keeping of that in- 
stitution. Some fifty of the former members of this 
famous artillery company had assembled for the oc- 
casion, and under Col. Wm. T. Poague, who had long 
been their captain, for a few moments resumed their 
former organization and duties. What memories of 
the past, what deeds of daring, and what days of toil, 
what moving incidents of camp and field did the sound 
of those guns recall as those old soldiers looked into 
the faces or grasped the hands they had not seen or 
felt for eighteen years! 



236 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AFTER APPOMATTOX 

As the guns opened fire the chapel and mausoleum 
were thrown open, the figure was unveiled by Miss 
Julia Jackson (daughter of Stonewall Jackson), and 
the vast throng began to move through the building 
to view it. For many hours the current continued its 
steady flow, and indeed only ceased at nightfall. Mean- 
time the hospitable town and county was entertaining 
the crowd of strangers. The houses of citizens of the 
town were everywhere thrown open, and handsome 
entertainments were provided at many of them. In 
addition to this, a lunch, provided by the citizens of 
the county and town, was served on the university 
grounds to several thousand people. 

The evening fell upon a day forever marked in the 
annals of Lexington. It was felt by all that Valentine's 
chisel had created a worthy memorial of Lee, and that 
Daniel, in words not less fitting had committed it to 
the keeping of the future. 



APPENDIX 
Letter of General Lee to Lord Acton 

This letter, written while General Lee was President of Washington 
College, is unique, since its author was extremely cautious and reticent 
among his own people on the subject which he here discussed freely with his 
foreign correspondent. It will be found in Lord Acton's Correspondencey I, 
302-305. — Editor. 

Lexington, Vir., 
15 Dec, 1866. 

Sir, — Although your letter of the 4th ulto. has been 
before me some days unanswered, I hope you will not 
attribute it to a want of interest in the subject, but to 
my inability to keep pace with my correspondence. 
As a citizen of the South I feel deeply indebted to you 
for the sympathy you have evinced in its cause, and 
am conscious that I owe your kind consideration of 
myself to my connection with it. The influence of 
current opinion in Europe upon the current politics 
of America must always be salutary; and the importance 
of the questions now at issue in the United States, 
involving not only constitutional freedom and con- 
stitutional government in this country, but the prog- 
ress of universal liberty and civilization, invests your 
proposition with peculiar value, and will add to the 
obligation which every true American must owe you 
for your efforts to guide that opinion aright. Amid 



238 APPENDIX 

the conflicting statements and sentiments in both 
countries, it will be no easy task to discover the truth, 
or to relieve it from the mass of prejudice and passion, 
with which it has been covered by party spirit. I am 
conscious of the compliment conveyed in your request 
for my opinion as to the light in which American pol- 
itics should be viewed, and had I the ability, I have not 
the time to enter upon a discussion, which was com- 
menced by the founders of the constitution and has 
been continued to the present day. I can only say 
that while I have considered the preservation of the 
constitutional power of the General Government to 
be the foundation of our peace and safety at home and 
abroad, I yet believe that the maintenance of the 
rights and authority reserved to the states and to the 
people, not only essential to the adjustment and bal- 
ance of the general system, but the safeguard to the 
continuance of a free government. I consider it as 
the chief source of stability to our political system, 
whereas the consolidation of the states into one vast 
republic, sure to be aggressive abroad and despotic at 
home, will be the certain precursor of that ruin which 
has overwhelmed all those that have preceded it. I 
need not refer one so well acquainted as you are with 
American history, to the State papers of Washington 
and Jefferson, the representatives of the federal and 
democratic parties, denouncing consolidation and 
centralization of power, as tending to the subversion 
of State Governments, and to despotism. The New 
England states, whose citizens are the fiercest oppo- 



APPENDIX 239 

nents of the Southern states, did not always avow the 
opinions they now advocate. Upon the purchase of 
Louisiana by Mr. Jefferson, they virtually asserted the 
right of secession through their prominent men; and 
in the convention which assembled at Hartford in 
1 8 14, they threatened the disruption of the Union un- 
less the war should be discontinued. The assertion 
of this right has been repeatedly made by their poli- 
ticians when their party was weak, and Massachusetts, 
the leading state in hostility to the South, declares 
in the preamble to her constitution, that the people 
of that commonwealth "have the sole and exclusive 
right of governing themselves as a free sovereign and 
independent state, and do, and forever hereafter shall, 
exercise and enjoy every power, jurisdiction, and right 
which is not, or may hereafter be by them expressly 
delegated to the United States of America in congress 
assembled." Such has been in substance the language 
of other State governments, and such the doctrine 
advocated by the leading men of the country for the 
last seventy years. Judge Chase, the present Chief 
Justice of the U. S., as late as 1850, is reported to have 
stated in the Senate, of which he was a member, that 
he "knew of no remedy in case of the refusal of a state 
to perform its stipulations," thereby acknowledging 
the sovereignty and independence of state action. 
But I will not weary you with this unprofitable dis- 
cussion. Unprofitable because the judgment of reason 
has been displaced by the arbitrament of war, waged 
for the purpose as avowed of maintaining the union 



240 APPENDIX 

of the states. If, therefore, the result of the war is to 
be considered as having decided that the union of the 
states is inviolable and perpetual under the constitu- 
tion, it naturally follows that it is as incompetent for 
the general government to impair its integrity by the 
exclusion of a state, as for the states to do so by se- 
cession; and that the existence and rights of a state by 
the constitution are as indestructible as the union itself. 
The legitimate consequence then must be the perfect 
equality of rights of all the states; the exclusive right 
of each to regulate its internal affairs under rules es- 
tablished by the constitution, and the right of each 
state to prescribe for itself the qualifications of suffrage. 
The South has contended only for the supremacy of 
the constitution, and the just administration of the 
laws made in pursuance of it. Virginia to the last 
made great efforts to save the union, and urged har- 
mony and compromise. Senator Douglass, in his 
remarks upon the compromise bill recommended by 
the committee of thirteen in 1861, stated that every 
member from the South, including Messrs. Toombs 
and Davis, expressed their willingness to accept the 
proposition of Senator Crittenden from Kentucky, as a 
final settlement of the controversy, if sustained by 
the republican party, and that the only difficulty in 
the way of an amicable adjustment was with the re- 
publican party. Who then is responsible for the war? 
Although the South would have preferred any honor- 
able compromise to the fratricidal war which has taken 
place, she now accepts in good faith its constitutional 



APPENDIX 241 

results, and receives without reserve the amendment 
which has already been made to the constitution for 
the extinction of slavery. That is an event that has 
been long sought, though in a different way, and by 
none has it been more earnestly desired than by citi- 
zens of Virginia. In other respects I trust that the 
constitution may undergo no change, but that it may 
be handed down to succeeding generations in the form 
we received it from our forefathers. The desire I feel 
that the Southern states should possess the good opin- 
ion of one whom I esteem as highly as yourself, has 
caused me to extend my remarks farther than I in- 
tended, and I fear it has led me to exhaust your pa- 
tience. If what I have said should serve to give any 
information as regards American politics, and enable 
you to enlighten public opinion as to the true interests 
of this distracted country, I hope you will pardon its 
prolixity. 

In regard to your inquiry as to my being engaged in 
preparing a narrative of the campaigns in Virginia, I 
regret to state that I progress slowly in the collection 
of the necessary documents for its completion. I 
particularly feel the loss of the official returns showing 
the small numbers with which the battles were fought. 
I have not seen the work by the Prussian officer you 
mention and therefore cannot speak of his accuracy 
in this respect. — With sentiments of great respect, 

I remain your obt. servant, 

R. E. Lee. 

Sir John Dalberg Acton. 



INDEX 



Acton, Lord, letter from Lee, i68, 

237-241 
Adams, Charles Francis, cited, 98; 
address on Lee, 196 n.; tablet in 
Lee Memorial Chapel, 197 n. 
Ajax, Lee's horse, 112 
Aldrich, James, student, 138 
Alexander, Dr., at Lee exercises, 232 
Alexander, Archibald, and Lee, 149 
Allan, Col. William, ordnance offi- 
cer, 23; of Washington College, 
107, 108; on the mausoleum and 
statue of Lee, 226-236 
Allen, Joseph J., recollections of 

Lee, 131-132 
Allison, , student at Lexing- 
ton, 70 
Ammen, Dr. S. Z., on Lee and the 

student, 142-145 
Anderson, David L., at Washington 

College, 59 
Anderson, William A., rector of 
Washington and Lee University, 
letter cited, 5 n.-6 n.; on Lee as a 
man, 196-202; and Lee monu- 
ment, 229 
Arlington, Lee's home, 63, 164 
Army of Northern Virginia, mate- 
rials for history of, 160-161; at 
Mine Run, 185; at Lee mansoleum, 
232 

Barclay, Hugh, trustee of Wash- 
ington College, 3 

Barton, Dr. H. T., Lee's physician, 
209,211,221 



Beauregard, Gen. P. G. T., proposed 
history by, 160 

Berlin, F. A., recollections of Lee, 
40-48. 

Blackmar, John, recollections of 
Lee, 109-111 

Bledsoe, Dr. A. T., letter from Lee 
cited, 159 

Bond, Louis, at Washington Col- 
lege, 59 

Books, read by Lee, 165-181 

Bowen, H., at Lee's funeral, 219-220 

Boyle, Rev. William, recollections 
of Lee, 119 

Breckenridge, Clifton, as debater, 61 

Breckinridge, Hon. C. R., at Lee 
exercises, 232 

Brockenbrough, Judge John W., 
rector of Washington College, 3, 
4, 5, 23, 76; eulogy of Lee, 13; 
son of, 129 

Brooke, Col. John M., at Lexington, 
23 

Brown, Rev. Dr., trustee of Wash- 
ington College, 193 

Brown, Rev. C. C, recollections of 
Lee, 138-141 

Brown, Maj. Campbell, 73 

Bruce, Judge H. W., at Lee exer- 
cises, 232 

Button, C. W., at Lee exercises, 232 

Byron, Lord, incident of, 146 

Cameron, Mrs., 112 
Campbell, Prof. John, 42, 144 
Carlisle, Mrs., at Lee exercises, 232 



244 



INDEX 



Carlton, Hubbard G., recollections 

of Lee, 116-117 
Carter, Dr. Charles, letter from Lee 

cited, IS9 
Cary, Archibald, ancestors, 173 
Chancellorsville, battle of, 159 
Chase, Judge, cited, 239 
Chilton, Gen. R. H., letter to Lee, 

109 
Christian, Col. Bolivar, trustee of 

Washington College, i, 2, 75, 76; 

at Lee's funeral, 220 
Cockrill, S. R., 64, 70 
Collins, W. W., at Washington 

College, 59 
Collyar, John B., observation of 

Lee, 65-68 
Confederate Veteran, quoted, 65, 

223 
Congress, U. S., reconstruction 

committee, 157, 166 
Corcoran, W. W., at Lee exercises, 

233 
Corse, Gen. M. D., at Lee exercises, 

232 
Crittenden, J. J., compromise offered 

by, 240 
Custis, Gen. G. W. P., Memoir of, 

168 n. 

Daniel, Maj., at Lee exercises, 235, 
236 

Daniel, Carrie W., at Jackson's 
grave, 234 

Davis, Jefferson, trial of, 96-97; 
address cited, 98; attitude toward 
compromise, 240 

Davis, Winnie, floral designs from, 
234 

Deadrick, Dr. Chalmers, recollec- 
tions of Lee, 135-138 

Donaldson, C. N., 227 



Dorman, Maj., office of, 113; at 
Lee's funeral, 218 

Douglas, Stephen A., on the com- 
promise bill, 240 

Early, Gen. J. A., at Lee exercises, 

227, 232, 234, 235 
Edmondson, Hon. J. K., at Lee's 

funeral, 215, 218 
Elliott, Bishop, of Georgia, death 

of, 189 
Estill, Mrs., 59 

Estill, W. W., tribute to Lee, 49-53 
Ewell, Gen. R. S., letters from, 69^ 

73 
Ewing, J. W., incidents of Lee, 69-74 
Ewing, Judge Robert, recollections 

of Lee, 54-58 

Farrar, Col. F. R., letter from Lee, 

189 

Fergusson, Harvey B., record at 
Washington College, 1 31-13 2 

Figgat, Capt. J. H. H., at Lee exer- 
cises, 232 

Fleming, Rev. Robert H., recollec- 
tions of Lee, 118 

Forrest, Gen. N. B., Lee's opinion 
of, 71-72 

Franco-Prussian War, Lee's interest 
in, 158 

Franklin Society Library, books 
read by Lee, 164, 165-169, 180- 
181 

Fredericksburg, Va., Lee at, 79 

Fulton, Judge J. H., at Lee exer- 
cises, 232 

Gardner, Washington, D. C, pho- 
tographer, 46 
Gettysburg campaign, 103, 107 
Gonzales, Ruperto, 64 



INDEX 



24s 



Gordon, Dr. Edward C, recollec- 
tions of Lee, 75-105; cited, 
164 n.-i65 n., 166 n. 

Gordon, Gen. John B., at Peters- 
burg, 186 

Goshen Pass, 148 

Grace Church, Lexington, Lee as 
vestryman, 99, 108 

Graham, John M., student, 69, 70 

Graham Literary Society, 61, iii 

Grant, Gen. U. S., mentioned, 96, 

lOI 

Graves, Prof. C. A., on Lee at 
Lexington, 22-3 1 

Grosart, Rev. Alexander B., writ- 
ings of, 166 

Hagood, Gen. Johnson, introduc- 
tion by, 139 

Hamilton, A. H., recollections of 
Lee, 1 19-120 

Hampton, Gen. Wade, at Lee exer- 
cises, 232, 233 

Hanger, Marshall, at Lee's funeral, 
220 

Hanks, R. T., 227 

Harman, Maj. John A., of Lee's 
staff, 69, 70, 107 

Harman, Mike G., recollections of 
Lee, 107-108 

Harris, A. M., 227 

Harris, Prof. Carter J., 54, 144 

Hartford Convention, 239 

Hedger, C. W., recollections of Lee, 
111-112 

Hill, Gen. A. P., at Mine Run, 185; 
at Petersburg, 186 

Hoge, Rev. Dr. Moses D., letter 
from Lee, 190-191 

Holden, , of Lexington, 131 

Holland, R. A., commencement 
address, 62 



Hope, Hon. A. W. Beresford, letter 

from Lee, 188 
Hot Springs, Va., Lee at, 207 
Hughes, Jonathan, horse thief, 28- 

29. 30 
Humphreys, Prof. M. W., on Lee as 

college president, 32-39; diary 

quoted, 71 n.; mentioned, 123 
Hunter, Gen., raid, 7 n.; library 

destroyed by, 164 n. 

Jackson, Andrew, anecdote con- 
cerning, 15 
Jackson, Julia, at Lee exercises, 236 
Jackson, Stonewall, home of, 22, 24; 
pastor of, 217; grave of, 224, 233, 
234; at V. M. L, 235 
Jackson, Mrs. Stonewall, at Lee 

exercises, 232 
Jackson, T. O., at Lee's funeral, 220 
Johns, Bishop, confirmation of Lee, 

99 

Johnson, Gen. B. T., at Lee's 
funeral, 218 

Johnston, Gen. Joseph E., proposed 
history by, 160; illness of, 235 

Johnston, Col. William P., at Lex- 
ington, 23; on Lee's death and 
funeral, 206-222; address by, 227 

Jones, Dr. J. William, Baptist 
pastor, 62; cited, 161, 218; on 
Christian character of Lee, 182- 
195; at Lee's funeral, 217; on 
Lee's last office, 223-225 

Jones, Rev. W. Strother, recollec- 
tions of Lee, 106 

Joynes, Prof. E. S., cited, 7, 34; 
on Lee as college president, 16- 
21; explosion in room of, 70, 
71 n.; mentioned, 130, 144 

Junkin, Dr. George, president of 
Washington College, 24 



246 



INDEX 



Kane, Dr., acquaintance of Lee, 172 
Kelly, Maj., at Lee's funeral, 219 
Kirkpatrick, Dr. J. L., professor of 
philosophy, 59; and Lee, 194 

Lacy, Rev. B. T., interview with 
Lee, 183-184 

Leary, W. B., Lee's teacher, 162 n. 

Lee, Agnes, 109, 118, 120, 121 

Lee, Mrs. Edwin G., at Lee exer- 
cises, 234 

Lee, Charles Carter, 161 n. 

Lee, Gen. Fitzhugh, at Lee exer- 
cises, 232 

Lee, Gen. G. W. Custis, 116, 150, 
207, 210, 229 n. 

Lee, Gen. Henry ("Light Horse 
Harry"), R. E. Lee's biography 
of, 161, 167; burial place, 229 n. 

Lee, Mrs. JuUa Carter, burial, 229 n. 

Lee, Mary C, daughter, 1-2, 229 n. 

Lee, Mary Custis, wife of Gen. Lee, 
illness of, 44, 171; reminiscences 
concerning, 91, 96, 108, 109, no, 

118, 154, 176; literary interests, 
168 n.; and Lee statue, 226; burial 
place, 229 

Lee, Mildred, 49, 52, 63, 73, 109, 
121, 160; cited, 75-76; illness of, 
172; burial, 229 n. 

Lee, Robert E., as college president, 
1-145 passim; 191, 199-201, 203- 
205, 223-225; letters cited, 7-8, 
87. 92, 93> 94. 158-159. 161, 162- 
163, 167, 169, 170, 171, 175, 176, 
189-191, 192, 201 ; death of, 9, 118, 

119, 123, 128, 131, 140-141, 148, 
206-213; on character, 18, 19; 
on education, 20; at Lexington, 
22-31; attitude toward religion, 
25; attitude toward temperance, 
25; on industry, 25; and literary 



societies, 26; illness of, 30-31, 175, 
176, 195, 206, 207, 209-211; statue 
of, 58, 224, 226-236; as dis- 
cipHnarian, 60-61, 71, 73, 84-86, 
106, 110-114, 118, 121, 124, 129, 
134; description and characteris- 
tics, 78-79, 198; at Fredericks- 
burg, 79; in Mexican War, 79, 80, 
150; at trial of Davis, 96-97; 
Christian character, 98-101, 182- 
195; confirmation of, 99; on re- 
construction, 102; poem addressed 
to, 104-105; averts lynching, 129- 
130; and the making of his statue, 
146-156; on the test of a true 
gentleman, 155; Stiles's Four 
Years with Marse Robert, 155; 
before reconstruction committee, 
157, 166; what he read after the 
war, 157-181; literary efforts, 
160-161, 165 n.; private library, 
164; favorite books, 177; and the 
Bible, 177-179, 188-189; order 
concerning fasting and prayer, 
188; funeral, 213-222; office at 
Washington College, 223-224, 
229; mausoleum, 226-236; on 
secession, 237-241; letter to Lord 
Acton, 237-241; on slavery, 241; 
see also Traveller; Washington 
College 

Lee, Capt. Robert E. (son), on Lee 
as college president, 5-1 1; cited, 
163, 164, 170, 171; at father's 
funeral, 217; burial, 229 n.; at 
Lee exercises, 232 

Lee, Mrs. S. P., cited, 93 n. 

Lee, Gen. W. H. F., war operations, 
169; letter to, 175; at father's 
funeral, 217; at Lee exercises, 
232 

Lee family, burial place, 229 n. 



INDEX 



247 



Lee Memorial Association, 226, 228, 

229 
Lee Memorial Chapel, 64 
Leech, J. M., secretary of faculty, 

125 

Letcher, Gov. John, home of, 23; 
recollections of, 44-45, 131; and 
Lee statue, 227 

Letcher, Lizzie, 44-45 

Lewis, negro janitor, 126 

Lexington, Va., Lee at, 22-31; 
churches, 62; attitude toward 
Lee, 135; Lee's letter to ministers 
of, 192; see also Washington 
College 

Leyburn, Rev. Dr., meeting with 
Lee, 97 

Liberty Hall Academy, aft. Wash- 
ington College, 6 

Lilly, Gen. R. D., and Lee's mau- 
soleum, 228 at Lee exercises, 232 

Lincoln, Abraham, assassination of, 
98 

Lockett, J. W., at Washington Col- 
lege, 59 

Long, Prof. George, book sent to 
Lee, 163 

Louisiana, New England and pur- 
chase of, 239 

Lyle, Prof., of Washington College, 
126 

McCleary, J. Harvey, iii 
McClellan, Prof. R. M., of Macon, 

60 
McCluer, J. Parry, recollections of 

Lee, 122 
McCormick, Cyrus H., invitation to 

Lee, 97 
McCown, James H., recollections 

of Lee, 122-123 
McCrea, , lecture by, 50 



McElwee, Rev. William, of Lexing- 
ton, 121 

McLaughlin, Col., trustee of Wash- 
ington College, 3 

Madison, Dr. R. L., Lee's physician, 
209, 210, 221 

Marshall, Chief-Justice John, 208 

Martin, J. W., 227 

Martin, John, 64 

Maryland Line, at Lee exercises, 
232, 233 

Massie, Prof., of Washington Col- 
lege, 124 

Maury, Col., at Lee's funeral, 218 

Maury, Commodore Matthew, F., 
at Lexington, 23; cited, 148 

Mason, George, ancestors, 173 

Massachusetts, constitution cited, 
239 

Meade, Gen. George G., at Mine 
Run, 185 

Meade, Bishop W., 208 

Mercer, Dr., library, 166 

Mexican War, Lee in, 79, 80, 150 

Miley, photographer, 57 

Mine Run, Lee at, 185 

Neilson, J. Crawford, mausoleum 

designed by, 228, 229 
Nelson, Prof. Alexander L., of 
Washington College, 1-4, 126, 144 
New York Herald, on inauguration 
of Lee as college president, 12-15 
New York Times, 157 
Newspapers, read by Lee, 157 
Norris, Col. William, at Lee exer- 
cises, 232 

O'Farrell, Col. Charles T., of Lex- 
ington, 112 
Old Sweet Springs, Lee family at, 169 
Outlook, quoted, 146 



248 



INDEX 



Palmer, Col. W. H., at Lee's exer- 
cises, 232 

Parrott, , student at Wash- 
ington College, 33 

Pendleton, Col. E., at Lee's funeral, 
219 

Pendleton, Rev. Gen. William N., 
relations with Lee, 5 n.-6 n., 73; 
home of, 23, 62; at Lee's funeral, 
216, 217, 212 

Perry, Thomas L., jailer, 29 

Peters, George B., 61, 64 

Petersburg, Lee at, 185, 186 

Peyton, Col. H. E., at Lee exercises, 
232 

Pickett, Mrs. George E., at Lee 
exercises, 232 

Pitt, R. H., 227 

Poague, Col. William T., at Lee 
exercises, 235 

Pollard, Lost Cause, 159 

Ponder, John P., recollections of 
Lee, 123-125 

Powers, John, at Washington Col- 
lege, 59 

Pratt, Miss Grace, 62 

Pratt, Rev. H. Waddell, Presby- 
terian pastor, 62 

Pratt, Dr. John, Presbyterian pastor, 
62 

Preston, Col. J. T. L., incident con- 
cerning, 21 

Preston, Mrs. Margaret J., motto 
by, 233 

Randolph, Gen. George W., death 

of, 190 
Reed, William B., letter from Lee, 

167 
Rees, Albert L., recollections of Lee, 

121 
Rees, Mildred Lee, 121 



Reid, Col., Lee at home of, lo-ll 
Richmond College, and Lee's statue, 

227 
Riddick, W. L., at Lee's funeral, 219 
Riley, FrankUn L., on Lee's reading 

after the War, 157-181 
Roanoke College, Salem, Va., 40 
Robinson, Graham, recollections of 

Lee, 117-118 
Robinson, Leigh, at Lee exercises, 

232 
Rockbridge Artillery, 235 
Rockbridge Baths, Lee family at, 

69, 70, 168, 175 
Rockbridge County Bible Society, 

Lee's interest in, 28, 178, 188 
Rogers, Dr. C, letter from Lee, 60 
Rogers, Maj. E. L., at Lee exer- 
cises, 232 
Rogers, J. Frank, at Washington 

College, 59 
Rogers, Richard W., reminiscences 

of Lee, 59-64 
Rogers, Dr. Samuel, Methodist 

rector, 62 
Ross, Col., and Lee, 81 
RufF, Col., cited, 67 
RufFner, , superintendent of 

schools, Va., 41 
RufFner, Dr., farm of, 120 
Ryan, Father Abram J., at Lee 

exercises, 232, 235 

Scott, Gen. Winfield, opinion of 

Lee, 75 
Secession, Lee and, 237-241 
Senseney, , blacksmith, cited, 

68 n. 
Seven Weeks' War, Lee's comment 

on, 157 
Shields, , of Washington 

College, 89 



INDEX 



249 



Slaughter, Prof. R. A., of Macon, 60 

Slavery, Lee and, 241 

Smith, Gen. Francis H., superin- 
tendent V. M. I., 23, 35 

Smith, H. C, 227 

Smith, Dr. Henry L., on Lee as an 
educator, 203-205 

Smith, Gov. William, at Lee exer- 
cises, 233 

Snyder, F. J., student, 46 

Somerville, Dr. T. H., recollections 
of Lee, 1 1 2-1 1 3 

"Sons of Confucius," college society, 
61, no 

South, University of the, Sewanee, 
Tenn., 5, 9 

Southern Review, 159 

Staunton, Va., delegation at Lee's 
funeral, 220 

Stern, Jo Lane, recollections of Lee, 
120 

Steuart, Gen. George H., at Lee 
exercises, 232, 233 

Stiles, Maj. Robert, Four Years with 
Marse Robert, cited, 155 

Stonewall Brigade, at Lee mauso- 
leum, 232 

Stuart, Mrs. J. E. B., at Lee exer- 
cises, 232 

Talcott, Col. T. M. R., at Lee exer- 
cises, 232 

Taylor, Col. W. H., recollections of 
Lee, 125-128; at Lee's funeral, 
219, 221 

Terry, Gen. William at Lee exer- 
cises, 232 

Thornhill, J. T. E., 227 

Toombs, Robert, attitude toward 
compromise, 240 

Traveller, Lee's war horse, 4, 10, 22, 
49. 63, 67, 68, 69, 73-74, 76, 81, 



92, 93, 94, 106, 109, 112, ii4-iiS> 
116, 120, 125, 127, 134, 136, 141, 
171, 176, 204, 210, 216, 218, 220 

Tucker, John Randolph, at Lexing- 
ton, 23 

Turner, Z., at Lee's funeral, 219 

Turpin, W. M., 227 

Tyler, Judge D. Gardiner, recollec- 
tions of Lee, 1 28-131; at Lee 
exercises, 232 

Valentine, Edward V., reminis- 
cences of Lee, 146-156; statue of 
Lee by, 222, 224, 226-227, 229, 
236 

Valentine, Sarah B., lines on Lee's 
statue, 156 

Valley Railroad, Lee as president, 28 

Van Meter, John S., student, 118 

Venable, Col. C. S., at Lee's funeral, 
221 

Viley, Willa, recollections of Lee, 
120-121 

Virginia, Cavalier element in, 173; 
committee of legislature at Lee's 
funeral, 219-220 

Virginia, University of, 5, 37, 43, 
47.48,58 

Virginia Education Association, 
meeting, 175 

Virginia Historical Society, 50 

Virginia Military Institute, 21, 23; 
Hbrary destroyed, 164 n.; religious 
revival in, 194; and Lee's funeral, 
216, 218, 219, 220; Stonewall 
Jackson at, 235 

Waddell, Misses, of Lexington, 113 
Waddell, Edmonia, at grave of 

Jackson, 233 
Wake Forest Student, cited, 34,37, 182 
Walker, George, at Lee's funeral, 219 



250 



INDEX 



Warm Springs, Lee family at, 172 

Washington, George, endowment to 

Washington College, 6; ancestors, 

173 

Washington and Lee University, 
24; centennial of Lee's birth, 196; 
Lee exercises at, 234-236; see also 
Washington College, 

Washington College, Lexington, Va., 
Lee as president, 1-145 passim, 
191, 199-201, 203-205, 223-225; 
early history, 6, 7 n.; faculty of, 
23, 38, 39 n., 55-56, see also 
names of members; students, 38, 
39 n-> 4S» 59; ex-soldiers at, 136; 
library, 164, 169-176, 180-181; 
Lee's burial at, 215-222; Lee's 
office at, 223-224, 229; see also 
Washington and Lee University 

Washington Literary Society, 61 

Washington Star, 157 

Watchman, 157 

Webb, Rev. Frank B., recollections 
of Lee, 108-109 

Weir, , teacher at West Point, 

ISO 
West Point Military Academy, 88 
White, Dr., at Lee's funeral, 217 
White, Prof James J., professor in 

Washington College, 6 n.; cited, 



10, II, 118, 144, 149; and Lee, 

153; at Lee's funeral, 215 
White, Dr. Reid, cited, 66 n. 
White, Rev. Dr. W. S., prayer at 

Lee's installation, 13; and Lee, 

193. 19s 

White, Justice William, oath ad- 
ministered to Lee, 14 

White Sulphur Springs, Lee family 
at, 169, 176 

Williams, John J., at Lee exercises, 
232 

Wilmer, Bishop, R. H., address on 
Lee's death, 9 

Wills, Dr. David, of Macon, Ga., 

59 
Wilson, David J., recollections of 

Lee, 132-135 
Winchester, Rt. Rev. James R., 

recollections of Lee, 113-116 
Wolseley, Lord, visit with Lee, 71-72 
Womeldorf, , wood supplied 

by, 87 
Woodward, S. S., 227 
Worsley, Philip Stanhope, poem to 

Lee, 104-105; translation oi Iliad 

presented to Lee, 162 

Young Men's Christian Association, 
Lee's interest in — 25 



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